


Life is a battle

by Werederg



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, But Josie isn't, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Klaus is still alive, Lots of family drama, Mikaelson Crime Family AU, Mikaelson Mob Family AU, Penelope doesn't come in until chapter 9, Slow Burn, The universe is a dick to Hope, This got way more complicated than I intended, phosie endgame, some non graphic violence, there's no salvatore school
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23288167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Werederg/pseuds/Werederg
Summary: Everybody in Mystic Falls knows Hope Mikaelson, the youngest member of the Mikaelson crime family. Everybody knows that she’s as beautiful as her mother and as ruthless as her father, that she’s the only Mikaelson to not have been in prison yet, and that the rest of the family is extremely protective of her. How people know these things, Josie’s never been sure, but either way, she’s always been told to keep her distance from Hope.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Penelope Park, Hope Mikaelson/Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 91
Kudos: 473





	1. Got a bookmark?

**Author's Note:**

> Me, working on something other than my WIP's,,,, more likely than you think.  
> Just kidding, I've had this in my drafts for a while, I just wasn't quite ready to post it yet. But now I am and here it is. I'm sure someone's done this before, but I like the idea, and nobody can stop me.  
> If you guys like this, and you have any ideas about scenes to include with members of the Mikaelson Family or tips on how to write them, let me know. I've never actually watched The Originals or The Vampire Diaries, so I don't really have much inspiration on that front, but I'd like to do them justice.

Everybody in Mystic Falls knows Hope Mikaelson, the youngest member of the Mikaelson crime family. Everybody knows that she’s as beautiful as her mother and as ruthless as her father, that she’s the only Mikaelson to not have been in prison yet, and that the rest of the family is extremely protective of her. How people know these things, Josie’s never been sure, but either way, she’s always been told to keep her distance from Hope.

Josie has gone to the same school as Hope for most of her life, although Hope would periodically disappear for weeks at a time as they grew up. When they were younger, Josie never really thought much of Hope. She didn’t know much about her, but the girl didn’t seem very friendly and Lizzie didn’t like her, so Josie never talked to Hope.

As they got older, Josie came to understand who Hope was in the world, and why so many people were afraid of her or didn’t like her. Josie remembered Hope regularly getting into fights in middle school and how sometimes the kids that tried to beat her up would be sick for quite a while after.

By the time Josie got to high school, most people were used to Hope and her family. Sure, she was the daughter of an infamous criminal and her sick days almost always lined up with a police raid, but everybody knew why, so nobody really talked about it anymore.

But everything changed sophomore year. There was a big ruckus in the news when a police raid successfully broke up a drop and Hope’s father got into a fight with her uncle while they were in custody after the fact. They ended up being released under definitely suspicious circumstances, but Hope was gone from school for 4 months after and it was all anyone could talk about. The next thing anyone knew Klaus was convicted of first degree murder and Hope returned to school a few days later.

Josie didn’t really think much about the drama at the time, but Lizzie is a bit of a gossip, so she heard about it whether she wanted to or not. It was hard for Josie not to feel bad for Hope, even though Lizzie always insisted that they all had it coming. Josie couldn’t imagine losing her dad like that, much less being born into that family. But, just because Josie felt bad for Hope, that didn’t mean she didn’t know better than to stay away from the girl. Hope was serious trouble, and Josie had no reason to get within ten feet of someone like that.

“Thank you, Officer Mac,” Principal Saltzman says as the uniformed woman gives a slight wave goodbye and closes the office door behind her. Principal Saltzman then turns to the student that has been deposited in front of him. “So, Hope, what is it this time?”

Hope gives Principal Saltzman a blank look and raises one eyebrow at him. She stands defensively with her arms crossed over her chest. Despite obviously not wanting to be there, Hope still looks relatively comfortable in the principal’s office, likely from repeated visits.

Principal Saltzman sighs a little and runs a hand through his hair. “ _ Hope _ ,” He repeats a little sterner, a guarded fondness to his voice.

Hope rolls her eyes and drops her arms to her sides with a little huff. “I was skipping math,” She says plainly.

“Is there a reason you were skipping?” Principal Saltzman says, a little exasperated, like this is a common occurrence.

Hope shrugs. “I don’t like math. It’s a pretty pointless class and the teacher always smells like eggs.”

Principal Saltzman lets out a slow breath. “Okay, you can spend the rest of the hour in the library instead, but I want you to stay there. Understood?”

“Works for me,” Hope says unenthusiastically.

“Officer Mac will escort you,” Principal Saltzman says, getting up and opening the door of his office to speak to the officer.

Hope rolls her eyes, but doesn’t complain.

Josie has a free period fourth hour that she usually spends in the library. There aren’t normally other people in the library, which she enjoys. It makes it really easy to focus when there are no distractions. However, today, about ten minutes into the period, a very big distraction walks right into the library, led by the school liaison officer.

Hope is wearing her usual black leather jacket, pair of ripped jeans, and combat boots. Josie watches out of the corner of her eye as the girl does a brief survey of the room before making a bee line for the table in the back corner of the room. Josie tries to refocus on the essay she is trying to write, but she swears she can feel Hope’s gaze on her, and it makes her uneasy.

Okay, so, maybe Josie is a little scared of Hope Mikaelson, but what sensible person wouldn’t be? Hope is intimidating. Josie knows that the girl can fight and consistently gets weapons confiscated from her at school. And, okay, maybe Josie used to have a crush on her in middle school, but she got over that a while ago. And, yeah, Josie still thinks the leather jacket thing is pretty hot, but that doesn’t mean she likes Hope.

Josie, despite her better judgement, turns around in her chair to glance at Hope. Unfortunately, Josie finds Hope staring right at her, and she doesn’t look away when she sees Josie looking, just holds her gaze and raises an eyebrow. Josie freezes under Hope’s gaze, unsure of how to proceed.

After a moment that feels much too long, Josie turns back around to her laptop. Her hands feel sweaty and her heart is beating absurdly fast.  _ God, why is she like this? _ Josie takes a deep breath and forces herself to focus back on her essay. After typing the same sentence seven times, Josie thinks she’s almost put Hope’s presence out of her mind. But of course that’s when the girl decides to come over.

Josie tenses as Hope pulls out the chair next to her and takes a seat, her leather covered elbows resting on the table in front of her. Hope’s gaze lingers on Josie for a long moment before she says anything.

“Whatcha working on?” Hope asks blandly, her gaze looking rather uninterested.

Josie is pretty sure she forgets how to talk for a second. “Oh, um, an essay,” Josie stammers after a moment, her face feeling hot.

“What for?”

“Oh, AP Lit.”

“Huh.”

Josie says nothing and refuses to look in Hope’s direction, eyes locked on the blinking cursor of her computer screen. Maybe if Josie ignores Hope, she will go away.

Thankfully, Josie is right. Hope stays a little longer before getting up and moving to browse the bookshelves aimlessly. But just when Josie thinks that the girl will leave her alone, Hope comes back, book in hand. This time, Hope takes the seat directly across from Josie, tips the chair back a little and places her boots up on the table.

Ironically, the book that Hope has picked out is one that Josie really loves. It’s  In the Time of the Butterflies , by Julia Alvarez. Josie has the same addition of the book in her shelf at home, though the cover is a little less worn than the library’s copy. Josie briefly wonders if Hope will like the book and what she will think of the unique style it’s written in.

All of those thoughts disappear, however, when Hope’s foot starts absently tapping on the table. Having your feet up on the table is inconsiderate enough, but sitting down next to the only other person in an empty library and then proceeding to make annoying noises, that crosses the line for Josie.

Josie takes a deep breath to calm her nerves before saying, “Can I help you?” It doesn’t quite come out the way Josie meant it to, almost sounding like Josie really did want to help her with something.

Hope’s gaze raises slowly from the book to look at Josie. She takes her feet down from the table and Josie starts to sweat, worried that she has just pissed off the wrong person. Hope’s expression is unreadable, but definitely intimidating.

“Yeah,” Hope says finally, “you got a bookmark?”

Josie is startled to say the least, but her natural desire to help others causes her to answer with the truth. “Um, yes,” Josie says, moving to rummage in her backpack without thinking.

“Cool,” Hope says as she takes the bookmark from Josie and places it in the book she’d been reading. Then Hope wordlessly gets up and goes to the library desk to check out the book. When she has, she mercifully returns to her corner and leaves Josie in peace.

Josie breaths a sigh of relief and has a passing thought about how weird that had been before returning to her work.

Josie doesn’t think much about her encounter with Hope after that. She doesn’t bother mentioning it to anyone, especially not her sister. Knowing how much Lizzie doesn’t like Hope, Josie is not really interested in setting her sister off on another rant about the girl. Every once in a while, though, Josie thinks she can feel Hope’s gaze on her in the same way it had that day in the library, usually when she’s in the halls or when they’re in english together. She doesn’t know what to think of it or what it means, so she just tries to ignore it. She is probably just over thinking it anyways.


	2. What are you doing out?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope doesn’t hurry as she walks through the rain. She’s always liked that sort of weather. Getting wet never really bothered her and the sound of the drops always had a calming effect on her. Additionally, rainy days are one of the few times when there is rarely anyone else out in the world, most people seeing the weather as a deterrent to going outside. The falling water slides easily off the waterproof layer of Hope’s jacket and she breaths in deep the smell of the rain as she walks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What up?   
> Thanks to everyone who left a kudos, and especially to those who left comments. <3 love you guys!  
> I apologize in advance, because this fic is going to have some pacing issues. I usually just write stories all at once and then go back and break it up into chapters for posting, and when I went back on this one, it was really hard to break up, so it might be a little awkward for a bit.  
> Enjoy!

“Yeah, no, I can do that Uncle Elijah… It’s not a big deal… I just pick it up and drop it off, right?” Hope says, her phone held to her ear with one hand as the other reaches for her leather jacket. “Are you sure you don’t need me to talk to anybody… Okay, okay, I won’t talk to anyone, Uncle, I promise.” Hope rolls her eyes at her uncle’s overprotectiveness. “Yes, I will be fine. I love you. Talk to you later.”

Hope heaves a sigh as she hangs up the phone and slips on her jacket. She puts on her boots and grabs something from a drawer to put in her jacket pocket. She stands in front of the door, hesitating for a moment, repeating to herself the same reassurances that she had just used to placate her uncle. It’s just a small package transfer, what could go wrong?

At the last moment, Hope goes back to the same drawer and takes something else out to put in her boot, before heading out the door.

It’s not a long walk to the pick up location, but the drop off is quite far away, so the transfer takes up most of Hope’s afternoon. It goes smoothly, but by the time Hope is on her way home, it has started to rain, with no indication that it will let up anytime soon. 

Hope doesn’t hurry as she walks through the rain. She’s always liked that sort of weather. Getting wet never really bothered her and the sound of the drops always had a calming effect on her. Additionally, rainy days are one of the few times when there is rarely anyone else out in the world, most people seeing the weather as a deterrent to going outside. The falling water slides easily off the waterproof layer of Hope’s jacket and she breaths in deep the smell of the rain as she walks.

Hope is fairly close to her apartment when she spots someone standing in the middle of the block ahead of her. She squints warily in the low visibility of the weather as she gets closer. It takes a moment for Hope to recognize the outline as Josie Saltzman, inexplicably out in the pouring rain without even a jacket on.

Hope hesitates briefly before approaching Josie. As Hope gets closer, seeing how drenched Josie is, she starts to slip off her jacket, raising it over her head to catch the rain.

“Josie?” Hope calls as she approaches, raising a questioning eyebrow in concern.

Josie startles, spinning around to face Hope with a wide eyed expression. “Hope? What are you doing out here?”

Hope can’t help but chuckle a little at the question. “I could ask you the same question. Here,” Hope says, raising her jacket up higher and passing it over to Josie, to prevent the girl from getting more soaked than she already is.

Josie seems hesitant, looking at Hope suspiciously, but it only takes a few seconds for her to concede to the offered protection.

“What are you doing in this neighborhood?” Josie asks, almost accusingly.

Hope doesn’t take Josie’s attitude too personally. She’s used to it at this point, and Josie is fairly nice about it, comparatively, so she doesn’t mind. “I live nearby, actually,” She answers casually.

Josie blinks a few times and then looks down in embarrassment. “Oh, right, that makes sense.” Josie mumbles absently, “Lizzie is always saying that this neighborhood is going down hill.”

Hope laughs dryly at that, having no doubt that Lizzie has said that before definitely in reference to Hope. “Yeah, well, every neighborhood is going down hill. Wages have stagnated,” Hope deadpans.

Josie freezes with her lips parted for a moment. “Oh God, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” She apologizes quickly.

Hope shakes her head. “It’s fine, Josie, don’t worry. But it really is starting to come down and it’s probably not the best idea for you to be out by yourself. Let me walk you home?” Hope offers, being quite familiar with the types of unpleasant things you could find out on the streets.

Josie takes a wary step back from Hope. “No, that’s okay, Hope. I don’t live far,” She says, simultaneously looking around the area as if she wasn’t really sure where she was.

Hope looks Josie up and down for a moment. It’s clear that Josie doesn’t trust her. Hope has to admit that Josie has good reason, even if it still kind of stings. They’ve known each other since they were kids, but it’s not like that means anything, right? Still, Hope’s not going to let Josie walk home alone, especially considering that Hope will have to take her jacket back when they part ways.

Hope kneels down to pull something out of her boot. “Here,” She offers the now revealed switchblade to a suddenly more frightened Josie.

Josie makes a small scared squeak and jumps back a little. Hope just raises an eyebrow at the girl, unable to keep the small smirk off of her face.

“Okay, first of all, Josie, if I had wanted to hurt you, I probably wouldn’t have given you my coat. Second, the switchblade is closed. Third, if it was open, the blade would be pointing at me,” Hope explains, trying not to sound too patronizing. “And I just figured that if you’re worried about me doing anything inappropriate, this way you’d have the upper hand.”

Josie considers Hope’s words for a long moment, her eyes flicking between Hope’s expectant gaze and the outstretched weapon. Josie watches the raindrops slide down Hope’s exposed, muscular arms. She notices the way Hope’s dripping hair falls into her face so that she has to keep pushing it back with her free hand. Josie suddenly feels guilty for keeping Hope out in the rain and nervously takes the offered knife.

Right as Josie takes the knife from her hands, Hope remembers her other knife in the pocket of the jacket that Josie has right now. She could’ve just told Josie about the knife there and kept the one in her boot, but now if she told Josie that, she couldn’t keep the boot knife on her because it would defeat the purpose of giving a knife to her in the first place. Hope’s jaw tightens imperceptibly as she begins to feel very exposed with both of her weapons stripped from her.

“So, shall we?” Hope says, gesturing in the direction that she assumes Josie had come from originally.

“Oh, yeah,” Josie says, still eyeing the knife in hand warily. “Oh, Hope, here,” Josie says, moving to give Hope her jacket back.

“No, keep it for now. I’ll take it back once you’re home,” Hope says without missing a beat. She is enjoying the way the raindrops feel on her arms even as it starts to get a little cold.

This seems to make Josie more uncomfortable. “Are you sure?” She asks, almost sounding worried for Hope.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, Josie. I like the rain,” Hope says with a small laugh.

Josie falls silent for a long moment, but Hope can feel the other girl’s gaze on her as they walk. Hope’s gaze flicks around at the neighborhood, watchful for any sign of danger, and also to avoid looking at Josie and making her more uncomfortable. Although, Hope can’t help the occasional glance at the knife gripped tightly in Josie’s hand. It fits well in Josie’s hand, the handle contoured near perfectly to the shape of her grip. Hope is a little envious, seeing as most grips are at least a little awkward in her own hands.

“So, did you ever finish that AP lit essay?” Hope asks, trying to break the awkward silence, even if she really does enjoy just listening to the rain.

“The what?” Josie seems a little startled by the question, taking a second to process it. “Oh, yeah, it didn’t take long.”

“What was it on?”

“It was just a summary of Heart of Darkness. We just finished reading it two weeks ago,”

“Oh, cool. How was it?” Hope asks, genuinely.

Josie blinks a few times at Hope, as if trying to determine if she was being sincere or not. “It was alright, I guess. It’s a pretty graphic book. I mean, obviously well written, but also really upsetting.”

Hope only nods in response and they are enveloped in the sound of the rain once more. As they walk in relatively awkward silence, Hope thinks that Josie starts to relax around her at least a little.

After a long moment, Hope breaks the silence again. “So, do you want to talk about it?”

“About what?” Josie says, pointedly avoiding Hope’s gaze.

“About how you ended up out in a rain storm without a jacket on,” Hope says, casually. “It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me. I’m just curious.”

Josie is quiet for a moment before she sighs. “I just got into a fight with Lizzie. I needed some air and I didn’t want to set her off any more, so I went for a walk.”

Hope raises a questioning eyebrow at Josie’s wholly unsatisfying answer, but she doesn’t prod anymore, the girl clearly not wanting to talk about it.

“What are you doing out?” Josie asks after a moment, her voice hesitant, like she’s not sure if she should be asking.

Hope smiles a little at Josie’s shyness. She genuinely considers telling her the truth for a moment, or at least some kind of truth, but decides against it. “I like the way Mystic Falls looks in the rain,” She says simply, and it’s not exactly a lie, which is good enough for what is left of Hope’s conscience.

“Oh,” Josie says before falling silent once more. 

It only takes a little longer for them to reach Josie’s house. Josie stops right at the start of the walk up and turns to give Hope her jacket back. Hope takes it and slips it back on, relaxing into the fabric and the familiar weight of her switchblade in the pocket.

“Thanks, Hope,” Josie says, giving Hope a small wave as she turns to leave. Josie only gets a few steps up the walk before she stops and spins around again. “Oh, shoot, I forgot I still have your knife,” she says, extending the switchblade out to Hope.

Hope only looks at the knife for a second, so well suited to Josie’s hand and so comfortable in her grip. “Actually, why don’t you keep it? Every girl should have a knife.”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” Josie argues meekly. “I definitely don’t need it, and I’m sure you do.”

“No, don’t worry about me. I’ve always got more,” Hope says, digging her other switchblade out of her jacket pocket to show.

“Oh.” Josie seems to consider the weapon in her hand. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, you look good with it anyways,” Hope says in a slight suggestive tone.

A blush appears on Josie’s cheeks. “Oh, okay,” she murmurs, a small smile on her face.

“Alright, I’ll see you around, Josie,” Hope says. She waves goodbye over her shoulder and heads back toward her apartment. She thinks she’ll have to remember to hang her jacket up by the vent when she gets home if she wants it to be dry by the next morning.

Josie cringes at the wet sounds she makes as she steps into her house and closes the door behind her. Her clothes and her hair drip onto the floor and Josie knows that she will have to clean that up later. She takes a look around the house as she enters in a little further and sighs. It doesn’t look like Lizzie had an episode, but the house is definitely more disorganized than when Josie had left it.

Josie carefully walks through her house, trying to minimize the water damage she is causing. She heads straight for the bathroom, so she can grab a towel to dry off. Only once she gets there, does Josie realize that she is still holding Hope’s knife in her hand. Although, it is technically her knife now.

Josie looks down at the switchblade in her hand for a long moment. She’s never held a knife like that before, one designed to be a weapon instead of a tool. Her dad was always adamant about not having weapons in the house, partially because of her sister’s disorder and partially because her dad used to be a cop before they were born and didn’t like being reminded of that time. Although, even now as principal, her dad spent a good portion of his time taking weapons off of kids.

Josie slips the knife into her pocket, almost reluctantly, and grabs a towel to start drying herself off. Once she has at least gotten herself to stop dripping, she grabs another towel and heads back down stairs to clean up the puddle she made coming in. Once she is done cleaning up, Josie heads to the room her and Lizzie share to change out of her wet clothes. However, when she arrives, she finds the door locked, likely with a still upset Lizzie inside. Josie sighs and resigns herself to being wet and clammy until their dad comes back to talk Lizzie down.

The next week, at school, Josie can’t help but notice Hope more than usual. Josie really doesn’t know what to make of the girl anymore, and she finds her gaze wandering over to Hope more often than not. Thankfully, Lizzie doesn’t notice this change in behavior. Josie would really not like to get into another fight with Lizzie anytime soon, especially considering they share a room.

“Damn, Josie, you’re looking hella hot today,” Josie hears someone comment from behind her as she is getting stuff out of her locker one morning.

Josie turns to see Rafael smirking at her and Landon standing next to him looking vaguely uncomfortable. Josie just rolls her eyes and turns back to pulling things out of her locker, trying to ignore the way her skin crawls a little at the unwanted attention. 

Josie used to be interested in Rafael. He is certainly her type, leather jacket, gets into trouble a lot, vaguely intimidating. She had even kissed him at a party once, which he couldn’t seem to let go, considering he hadn’t left her alone since then. But after he had broken Lizzie’s heart, any interest Josie had in him had dried up.

“Ow, what the hell?” Josie hears Rafael snap from behind her again, only this time it’s clearly not directed at her. She turns around to see Hope standing next to Rafael, glaring at him. Rafael is rubbing his upper arm, presumably from Hope punching him, and Landon is trying to stifle his laughter nearby.

“Don’t be an asshole, and I won’t have to hit you,” Hope says, sounding vaguely amused. She rests an arm on Raf’s shoulder, even though he is significantly taller than Hope. She gives Landon a small wave in greeting, which he returns.

Raf huffs a little before letting his anger deflate. “Sorry, Josie,” He mumbles, sounding at least a little remorseful. 

Josie only nods in response, not wanting to engage with him more than she had to. She turns back to her locker again when she sees the group start to walk away. As they pass her, she can hear Landon teasing Rafael and Rafael grumbling under his breath. Josie is about to let herself relax knowing that they are gone, when she feels Hope’s presence leaning on the locker next to her. Despite Josie’s better judgement, she chances a glance in Hope’s direction.

Hope’s expression is unreadable, but Josie can’t help but think it maybe looks softer or more familiar than it usually would be before their most recent encounter in the rain.

“You do look nice today, Josie,” Hope says quietly. Josie thinks she might even hear a little hesitation in Hope’s voice, but that doesn’t seem likely. And then Hope is gone, following after Rafael and Landon.

Josie feels her face heat up at Hope’s compliment. “Thanks,” She murmurs, even though Hope is too far away to hear. 

“How come you can compliment her, but I can’t?” Rafael asks indignantly when Hope rejoins them.

Hope shares a look with Landon, both of the understanding a little more of the nuance of the situation. The difference is probably lost on Raf right now while he’s still worked up anyways, so Hope just laughs.

“Because I’m prettier than you, Raf,” Hope says, unable to keep a straight face when she says it.

Landon laughs, Hope joining him soon after. Rafael just scoffs and rolls his eyes as they continue down the hall.

A few days later, Josie is loitering out in the halls with Lizzie and MG, waiting for first hour to start. Lizzie is talking about some relationship drama between people that Josie doesn’t know. Josie tunes out of what her sister is saying, letting her mind wander. 

Unconsciously, Josie’s gaze finds Hope as soon as she enters the hallway that morning. Her eyes follow Hope as she makes her way down the hall. She looks a little different this morning, shoulders a little more slumped, her hair up in a hastily made pony tail, eyes glued to the ground. Josie doesn’t even realize she is staring until Hope bumps into one of the school’s basketball players. Josie having been watching the collision, knows that the basketball player could’ve moved, but chose not to. Something about the look on the guy’s face tells Josie that this probably won’t end well.

Josie watches the basketball player say something to Hope, something that probably wasn’t particularly nice, based on what Josie can observe. Especially, considering Hope’s response. The girl does not say anything to the jock as he continues to talk aggressively at her. After a moment, Hope abruptly cuts him off by kneeing him in the balls.

The basketball player makes a strangled cry as he falls to his knees. Hope calmly steps around him and undoes the zippers of his backpack as she passes him, so that all of this school supplies spill out onto the floor. Her face is impassive as she continues on her way like nothing happened. It doesn’t take long for the school liaison officer to notice the commotion and come over, quickly directing Hope towards the principal’s office.

“Jesus, what is her problem?” Lizzie sneers, a scowl on her face as she watches Hope be led away.

Lizzie’s response jolts Josie out of her thoughts. She gives her sister a noncommittal shrug, still unable to tear her eyes away from Hope.

“So, what I’m told happened is you kneed Parker Johnson in the balls. Is that correct?” Principal Saltzman asks, meeting Hope’s glare head on.

This time Hope has actually taken a seat in front of Alaric’s desk. Her arms are folded across her chest. “Yep,” She says simply.

“Did you initiate the altercation?”

“I initiated the  _ physical _ altercation.”

Alaric sighs, knowing exactly what Hope means. “Hope, we’ve talked about this--”

“Good, then we don’t need to talk about it again,” Hope snaps irritably.

Alaric can hear the tiredness and stress in the girl’s voice, but knows better than to ask. Hope has made it very clear that him caring about her well being and making small talk isn’t part of their arrangement. “Okay, I’m going to submit a write up and Officer Mac is going to need to give you a pat down. Then you can spend the rest of today in the library for in school suspension.”

Hope’s eyes widen a little at the mention of a pat down. “Can I pick up my stuff at the end of the day?” Hope asks, already knowing that there are a few items that will be taken off of her.

“Hope, you know that the policy is that they have to be turned over to the officials. You can fill out some paper work to get it back in a few days, if it’s legal for you to have it off of school grounds,” Principal Saltzman says, sounding regretful.

Hope’s jaw clenches and she grumbles something vulgar under her breath. She gets to her feet and empties her pockets of contraband on Alaric’s desk. She pulls out two switchblades, a lighter, and a half empty pack of cigarettes, before stomping out the door to get the final check off from Officer Mac.


	3. Did you spend all night on that line?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hope, what are you--” Josie’s question is cut off by Hope clamping her hand over the girl’s mouth.
> 
> Hope gives Josie a strong look, which Josie assumes means be quiet, before peering out over the top of the car they are hiding behind. Hope’s brow is furrowed and her expression is serious as she looks at something, Josie isn’t sure what. After a moment, Hope swears under her breath again before turning back to Josie.
> 
> “Go to your car, get in it, and wait there until I say so. Do not come out and get involved in this, no matter what. Do you understand?” Hope orders, her voice strong and unyielding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in the last couple of days, my brain kind of ran wild with this AU. The result of which prompts me to ask you guys a question. How would you guys feel if this fic turned into a Phosie fic? It would take quite a few chapter to bring Penelope in and get her involved, but the endgame would be all three of them together. I just wanna know what you guys think, so let me know.  
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments, I really appreciate it!  
> Enjoy!

Josie is surprised to find Hope already in the library when she arrives for her free period fourth hour. Hope is sitting in the back corner of the library again and Josie thinks she looks like she’s having a pretty terrible day. 

Hope’s head is bent low, her fingers buried in her hair, gripping it a little too tightly. Her backpack looks haphazardly thrown, displaced a few feet from where Hope is sitting, clearly no intention of being used.

Josie considers going over and asking Hope what is wrong, but thinks better of it. She shouldn’t be getting anywhere near Hope Mikaelson, even if she has been surprisingly nice to Josie. Josie tries to put Hope’s presence out of her head, considering that last time she let Hope distract her, she almost had to turn her AP Lit essay in late. Josie takes her usual seat in the library and puts her headphones in to keep herself from getting distracted.

After only a few minutes, Josie feels a light, hesitant tap on her shoulder. She turns and almost jumps out of skin when she finds Hope standing behind her.

“Oh, Jesus!” Josie breaths out in surprise. She pulls a headphone out and tries to catch her breath as Hope takes a seat next to her.

“Hey, Josie,” Hope says, an odd tremor buzzing in her voice.

Up close, Josie can confirm her suspicions that Hope is not doing so well. There are dark shades under her eyes and a little red around the rims. Her hair is ruffled, probably from continuously running her fingers through it throughout the day. Her hands fidget in her lap and she is giving off enough anxious energy to make Josie’s chest feel tight just watching her.

“Hope?” Josie says, pretending to still be working on whatever is on her laptop so she doesn’t have to look Hope in the eyes.

“Listen, I don’t want to bother you or anything, but, um, I was wondering if you still have that knife I gave you,” Hope says, a veiled desperation in her tone that Josie’s never heard before.

“Um, I do, but I didn’t bring it to school,” Josie says, making the idea sound ridiculous, which it would be for a straight A student who hasn’t been sent to the principal’s office since third grade.

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Hope mumbles under her breath as her head sinks down onto the table, hands threading through her hair again.

Josie just looks at Hope for a long moment, not knowing how she is supposed to respond to this. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen Hope like this. “Sorry,” Josie murmurs reflexively, feeling guilty even though it’s really not her fault.

Hope’s head jerks up, as if just remembering Josie is there. “No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” She says, her expression becoming unreadable again. She gets up and starts to move away.

“Hope, wait,” Josie says impulsively, causing the girl to stop in her tracks. “Why do you need it so badly?”

Hope gives Josie a long look. “Don’t worry about it,” She says after a moment, walking away. 

Josie can’t ignore the cold pit that forms in her stomach as she watches Hope walk away. She doesn’t know if it’s guilt or something else, but she gets up and follows Hope regardless, her brain telling her how bad of an idea it is all along the way. “Hope, stop, come on,” Josie says. When Hope finally stops and turns to face her again, she continues, “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems pretty important. Is there any other way I can help?”

“No, it’ll be fine,” Hope insists, but it’s very unconvincing.

“Hope, please,” Josie persists, although she’s not sure why she cares so much. Maybe it’s the years of unspoken sympathy for Hope Mikaelson finally coming through, or maybe it’s just Josie’s uncontrollable need to help everyone around her.

Hope appears to concede, but it still takes her a long moment to answer. “Could you give me a ride home after school?” Hope asks hesitantly, her eyes trained on the ground and a hand rubbing at the back of her neck.

Josie freezes a little, instantly imagining Lizzie’s reaction when she finds out that they are driving Hope Mikaelson home. Josie has only recently gotten things to go back to normal since her last fight with Lizzie, she’s not really looking to disrupt that balance. But, Josie has already made a big fuss about helping Hope, she can’t just say no now. Can she?

“Yeah, of course. You’ll have to wait until after 4:30 though, I’ve got newspaper until then. Just meet me in the parking lot around then.” Josie says, hoping her dread doesn’t come through in her voice.

Hope just nods gravely, still looking apprehensive, before going back to her seat in the corner. Josie goes back to her own chair and starts working again. For the rest of the hour, every once and a while, Josie can feel Hope looking at her, and it makes something weird stir in her stomach. Josie can’t help but feel relieved when the bell finally rings and she heads to her next class.

Josie gets out of her newspaper meeting a little early and finds Hope leaning against the wall just outside the doors that lead to the parking lot. She has her arms folded over her chest and a glare in her eyes. Josie almost doesn’t approach her, the years of avoidance and fear kicking in, but she shakes her head and walks up to the girl.

“Hey, Hope,” Josie says, a little hesitantly.

Hope only responds by nodding her head and pushing herself off the wall to walk with Josie. They walk in silence, heading to Josie’s car.

“We just have to wait a bit for Lizzie to get done with practice, and then we can head out,” Josie says, breaking the silence when they are half way across the parking lot.

Hope quirks an eyebrow up, probably questioning how Lizzie will react to her being there. Josie doesn’t acknowledge the unspoken question, though, deciding to cross that bridge when she gets to it.

They are almost to Josie’s car when Hope freezes and pulls Josie behind a different car, a muttered swear under her breath.

“Hope, what are you--” Josie’s question is cut off by Hope clamping her hand over the girl’s mouth.

Hope gives Josie a strong look, which Josie assumes means be quiet, before peering out over the top of the car they are hiding behind. Hope’s brow is furrowed and her expression is serious as she looks at something, Josie isn’t sure what. After a moment, Hope swears under her breath again before turning back to Josie.

“Go to your car, get in it, and wait there until I say so. Do not come out and get involved in this, no matter what. Do you understand?” Hope orders, her voice strong and unyielding. She removes her hand from Josie’s mouth only once she is done talking.

Despite Hope’s tone leaving no room for argument, Josie argues anyways. “What are you talking about, Hope? What’s going on?” Josie says in harsh whisper. 

She cranes her neck to see what Hope was looking at before, and freezes when she sees it. There is a group of five boys in the parking lot, one of whom Josie recognizes as the guy Hope kneed in the balls that morning. They don’t look particularly friendly.

Hope pushes Josie back, so she isn’t spotted by the guys, and her grip remains tight on Josie’s upper arm as she gives her a harsh glare. “ _ Do you understand? _ ” Hope repeats, her voice even more commanding than before.

Josie hesitates, wanting to argue again, but the look in Hope’s eyes sends a shiver through her spine, so she just nods her head in response.

“Good, go,” Hope orders, giving Josie a small push in the direction of her car.

Josie goes to her car, but doesn’t get in it, watching to see what Hope will do next.

Once Josie is out of sight, Hope takes a deep breath to prepare herself before stepping out from her hiding place, into the open parking lot. The group of boys spot her immediately, stalking toward her. Hope squares her shoulders and walks up to meet them halfway.

“Well, if it isn’t Hope Mikaelson,” One of the boys sneers as they approach.

Hope gives them a bored look. “Got a problem, Pescadero?” Hope snaps, targeting the boy who had spoken.

“Yeah, we got a problem. We’ve got a problem with having scum like you in our town! You and your whole family are a bunch of fucking parasites that are ruining Mystic Falls, and I think it’s about time we call an exterminator,” A different boy snarls, the one that stands the tallest in the group.

Hope snorts. “Did you spend all night on that line?” Hope sneers, subtly looking around for any advantages in the environment that she could use in a fight.

The tallest boy growls at that and the group starts to advance on her. Hope backs up, trying to keep the spacing between them. One of them lunges forward at her, but she dodges his grab and pushes him away while still backing up.

“You can’t run forever, Mikaelson,” One of the boys taunts.

Hope says nothing, focusing on her next move. She almost trips on a crack in the asphalt as she keeps backing away, which loses her some ground as she regains her balance, but it also gives her an idea. She bends down quickly, scooping up a chunk of concrete and then proceeding to throw it at the boys. It smacks one of them in the stomach, scraping his hands as he tries to stop it. It slows him down, but it doesn’t stop him.

Hope continues follow a crack in the parking lot, picking up and throwing loose concrete as she slowly loses ground and is backed up against a wall. She gives them a couple of good bruises and scrapes, but she can’t do enough damage in the position she is in to get any of them to stop completely.

“You fight like a coward!” The tallest one snarls.

“Oh yeah? Fight me one on one, we’ll see who’s the coward then,” Hope says, an absurd amusement in her tone as she stumbles up onto the sidewalk. She’s getting dangerously close to the wall of the school, and she won’t have anywhere to go after that.

Once she gets within a few feet of the brick wall, Hope stops backing up. One of the boys smirks when he notices this and he rushes forward. She side steps his punch by a little bit and manages a quick jab to the side of his head, before he’s moved too far past her and she has to deal with the next boy coming at her. This one is going for a grab, so she ducks low to avoid his grasp, and kicks out at his knee. She aims a little too low, hitting his calf instead, which only serves to get him a little off balance.

Hope keeps going like this, putting up as much of a fight as she can, all while knowing there is no way she can win. She gets some good hits in, enough that at least two of them will have a black eye the next day and one of them will probably need a brace for his knee. In the end, though, it doesn’t take long for her to lose her footing and get shoved to the ground. Once she’s on the ground, the fight is over and the beating begins.

There are feet swinging into Hope’s stomach and fists coming at her head as she curls her body defensively against the attacks. Her arms wrap around her head to protect it as much as she can and her knees are pulled to her chest to cushion her organs against the blows, not that the boys’ attacks seem to have much reason or strategy behind them. There are taunts that come from above her, but she can’t really hear them, the sound of blood roaring in her ears and the broken sounds of her breathing echoing in her chest.

The boys seem to be satisfied with how much of Hope’s blood is on the ground after about a minute. They spew a few more insults, probably something self righteous and egotistical, before walking away. Hope doesn’t move for a long moment, waiting for the pounding in her head to lessen. Right before she thinks she’s ready to move, Hope feels a gentle, hesitant touch on her shoulder.

“Hope, oh my god, are you okay?” Josie says from above Hope, her voice full of concern and fear.

Hope groans, removing her arms slowly from around her head, and manages a nod. She starts to try and sit up, but it’s a slow process.

“Oh my god,” Josie breaths out again, her voice fast and panicked. “We need to go to the hospital. Should I call 911?”

Hope grunts loudly, dragging herself up into a sitting position so she can shake her head at Josie. She’s not quite sure how Josie reacts to this answer, though, considering she hasn’t opened her eyes yet.

“What? Hope, you are seriously hurt. You need medical attention, from a professional preferably,” Josie insists.

Hope grits her teeth and tries to open her eyes, but it stings so badly she can’t. Instead she growls out a “NO” and hopes it is enough for Josie to understand.

Josie is silent for a moment. When she speaks again, it comes out hesitant, but significantly calmer. “Can you walk?”

Hope shifts slightly, internally prodding her legs to see if they will hold her up. They hurt but they seem intact, so Hope nods. After a second, Hope feels arms come up under hers, helping her to her feet. Hope, while fairly convinced she could have got up on her own, cooperates with Josie’s help. Once Hope is on her feet, she leans heavily on Josie, her legs having less strength than she anticipated. Josie slips an arm around Hope’s waist to support her better.

They start to limp forward, Josie presumably leading Hope toward her car, although, Hope hasn’t opened her eyes yet, so she can’t be sure. Hope isn’t sure if she’s gained some trust in Josie from this experience or if it’s just the exhaustion of the encounter, but she find herself feeling relatively comfortable in the other girl’s arms.

When Josie stops, Hope assumes they’ve reached the car. There are a few seconds where Hope isn’t sure what’s happening before Josie speaks.

“Can you open your eyes? One of them looks pretty swollen, but maybe you can get the other one open,” Josie says, an undercurrent of anxiety still in her voice even after calming down. “I just don’t want you to hit your head on anything getting into the car.”

Hope nods and takes in a deep breath in preparation of attempting to open her not swollen eye. It hurts, but not as much as she expected. It takes a second for her vision to focus, but once it does, she can see the open car door, the slightly messy interior, and Josie’s worried face. Hope shifts closer to the car, leaning against it, and pulls herself inside, managing to get herself in a sitting position with only a little blinding pain. She definitely damaged a rib somewhere in there.

“Are you okay?” Josie asks, wincing at the pained noises Hope had been making.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Hope pauses, taking in a slow breath as she relaxes into the seat. “Thank you,” she says, falling a little quieter at the admission.

“Of course, Hope. What was I going to do, leave you there to die?” Josie says with animated exaggeration.

Hope knows Josie thinks the idea is ridiculous, but the fact is that most people would have, and Hope knows it.

“I’m going to call Lizzie to tell her to hurry up. It’ll just take a second,” Josie says, and Hope can hear her move away a little.

Josie dials her sister’s number and listens to it ring. She glances at Hope in her car as she waits for Lizzie to pick up. Hope looks terrible, her face swollen and quickly turning blue, her clothes dirty and scuffed. It looks like she fell down a cliff.

“Josie, what?” Lizzie’s voice comes through on the other end, irritated and impatient.

“Hey, Lizzie, you need to hurry up getting out of practice. We’re driving someone home tonight and they’re waiting,” Josie says, conveniently leaving out the part where their passenger is a pulverized Hope Mikaelson who is probably bleeding on their seats as she speaks.

“Ugh, Josie, since when are we picking up transients? You should’ve checked with me first,” Lizzie whines, her voice made more annoying by the metallic sound of the phone’s audio.

Josie feels frustration rise in her chest, fueled by her own anxiety. “Lizzie, just get out here,” Josie practically snaps, surprised by her own tone. “Please,” she adds, after hearing her own voice.

Lizzie huffs but agrees, and Josie knows her attitude will only get worse from here. She sighs and moves back toward Hope, who appears to be breathing meditatively.

“She’ll be out in a second,” Josie says, knowing it probably isn’t true.

Hope nods, and continues her breathing.

It takes about five more minutes for Lizzie to finally emerge from the school. She approaches from the other side of the car than Josie is on, unaware of their new passenger.

“God, Josie, what is the rush?” Lizzie says as she gets closer. “I mean it’s not like it’s the end of the--” Lizzie freezes when she comes around the other side and finally sees Hope.

Josie freezes, too, her mouth going dry as she tries to think of an explanation.

Lizzie’s face immediately twists into a scowl. “What the hell is Hope Mikaelson doing in our car, and why does she look like that?” Lizzie sneers in disgust.

Josie is honestly startled by her sister’s lack of sympathy. Yeah, Hope is a trouble maker and probably a criminal, but she’s still a human being who deserves to be treated with some decency. Josie just gawks at her sister, unable to find a response to her sister’s disgust.

“Josie, I’m not okay with being an accomplice to whatever crime this Mikaelson just committed,” Lizzie complains, crossing her arms over her chest.

Josie glances at Hope and then back at her sister, hardly able to process the ridiculousness of the situation. How could Lizzie stand there and not care at all about the beaten girl in their back seat? How could she even consider leaving Hope here? Josie is relatively unfamiliar with the hot feeling spreading in her chest and the voice that leaves her mouth next.

“Then you can walk,” Josie says forcefully, turning away from her sister to check in on Hope and help her with her seatbelt.

Lizzie gasps, somewhat overdramatically. “ _ Excuse me _ , this is not just your car, Jo. What gives you the right--”

Josie surprises herself again when she interrupts her sister. “This is more important than your petty grievances, Lizzie. So if you really have that much of a problem with it, get a ride from someone from one of your teammates or wait for Dad to be done.”

Hope probably would have laughed at the absolutely red and outraged look on Lizzie’s face, if she hadn’t thought she would pass out from the pain if she did.

Josie helps Hope put her seatbelt on to minimize jostling and closes the car door for her. “Are you coming or not?” Josie calls to Lizzie as she moves to the driver’s seat.

Lizzie huffs, and looks like she wants to argue more, but Josie isn’t paying attention, so she jumps into the passenger seat, throwing Hope a dirty look as she gets in.

They drive in silence at first, the only sound being Hope’s slightly ragged breathing. But Lizzie is seething in her seat, so it doesn’t take long for her to start complaining again.

“Why couldn’t one of her delinquent friends take her home?” Lizzie snaps.

“Raf skipped to visit his dad in Richmond today,” Hope grumbles out after a moment, her voice strained and weak, “and Landon’s foster parents can’t know that we hang out or they’d probably kick him out.”

Something about Hope’s voice makes that hot feeling rise in Josie’s chest again, getting uncomfortably tight around her throat. It just sounds so different then how she usually sounds, weak and pained rather than strong and confident. Hope really shouldn’t be talking with god knows what injuries, and she certainly doesn’t owe them an explanation. But, Josie doesn’t say anything, the car already tense enough as it is.

When they reach a particular intersection, Hope grumbles out a few words again. “Turn right, here.”

Josie doesn’t turn and Hope makes a vaguely confused noise. “You missed the turn,” Hope manages, trying to make her voice louder in case Josie couldn’t hear her.

Josie swallows hard before responding. “Hope, there is no way I’m letting you go home like this. If you won’t let me take you to the hospital, I’m at least going to give you some first aid. We have a kit at our house and I can take you home after,” Josie says, and she must’ve sounded particularly convincing or confident, because Hope doesn’t argue. However, Lizzie does.

“What, Josie? You’re going to bring her into our house?” Lizzie cries in outrage. “You have no idea what kind of crimes that would make us complicit in!”

“She got jumped in the parking lot by like five guys, Lizzie,” Josie hisses at her sister.

“And you believe that story? Please, Josie, you’re not that gullible,” Lizzie says, rolling her eyes.

“No, I  _ saw _ it happen, Lizzie,” Josie says, her voice getting louder than she had intended.

Lizzie makes a soft “oh” and falls silent for the remainder of the ride.


	4. Can I Ask You a Question?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie sucks in a sharp breath in sympathy upon seeing the wound. She leans up against the counter of the sink and gently takes Hope’s hand in her own. Josie starts silently cleaning the wound with tentative dabbing and a soft, but solid grasp around her wrist. Hope hates how quiet it is, and she probably would’ve broken the silence if Josie hadn’t beat her to it.
> 
> “So… Can I ask you something?” Josie asks, hesitantly, her hands stilling momentarily in their task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Felons!  
> I really appreciate everyone's input on whether to include Phosie in this fic. This might be a little anti-climactic, but my decision is to not make a decision yet. I'm just going to keep writing and see where it goes. I still really appreciate your feedback, though, and I will definitely keep it in mind as I continue.  
> Thanks to everyone who left a comment on the last chapter, you give me life!  
> Enjoy!

When they make it to the twins’ house, Lizzie grabs her stuff and moves ahead without the other two as quickly as possible. Josie sighs, watching her sister stomp into the house, wondering if Lizzie will make her sleep on the couch because of this. Josie is shaken out of her thoughts by the sound of the car door opening behind her.

“Wait, Hope,” Josie says, springing out of her seat to help the other girl.

Hope gets out of the car without assistance and she tests her legs once she has gotten out. They are shaky, but appear to work now. She takes an experimental step away from the car, internally groaning at the pain of it, but finding it stable. Just as Hope thinks that she can walk with out help now, Josie’s arm wraps around her waist again.

“It’s okay, Josie. I can walk,” Hope says, her voice coming out a little prickly at the unwanted help.

Josie only snorts at Hope’s response, keeping her arm right where it is.

Hope is surprised to find that Josie’s blatant dismissal doesn’t irritate her like she thought it would. Hope lets herself lean a little more on Josie as they start to walk toward the house, feeling her pride deflate.

Once they are inside, Josie leads Hope to the bathroom, ignoring the dirt that Hope’s shoes track in that she will definitely have to clean up later. Hope takes a seat on the toilet and lets out a sigh and a soft groan.

“I’m going to go get an ice pack for your eye,” Josie says, only slipping out the door after Hope nods in response.

When Josie comes back she hands Hope the ice pack and moves to rummage in the closet for the first aid supplies. She hears Hope wince when she places the ice pack to her face, followed by a sigh as it numbs some of the pain.

“Make sure not to apply any pressure,” Josie says, over her shoulder at Hope.

Hope gives a shallow laugh, probably to avoid the pain of a deep shake in her abdomen. “It’s not my first black eye, Josie,” Hope says, sounding vaguely amused.

“I just wanted to make sure,” Josie says self consciously, pulling out disinfectant and some cotton balls from the closet. 

Josie takes a moment to give Hope a once over, to see where most of her injuries are. The big red scrape on Hope’s knee is what catches her eye the most. It sits right in the intentional rip of her skinny jeans and it’s starting to turn brown from dried blood. She can only imagine how much it hurts.

“I’m going to start cleaning the one on your knee, so it’s going to sting, okay?” Josie says softly.

Hope almost tells Josie that this is not the first nasty scrape she’s gotten either, that she knows how much it hurts, but she thinks better of it. Hope actually kind of appreciates the warning and gentle way Josie says it.

Josie proceeds to drop to her knees in front of Hope’s wound. She soaks the cotton ball in antiseptic and gingerly dabs the scrape. Hope winces and clenches her jaw in response, breathing in sharply through her nose. Josie almost stops, wincing empathetically at Hope’s pain.

“You okay?” Josie asks, hesitantly continuing to clean the wound.

“Yep,” Hope says, her voice short and clipped. 

Josie isn’t particularly convinced, but continues anyways. It takes quite a while to get the scrape clean, but Hope doesn’t complain as Josie takes her time to make sure that it is completely disinfected. Josie sits back on her knees when she is done, giving the wound a final inspection before getting up to go retrieve a bandage.

“This is going to be hard to do over your jeans, but I have a feeling we’re not going to be able to get those rolled up,” Josie says, unwrapping the large patch band aid in her hands.

“Ha, yeah, no, that won’t happen. It probably be easier for me to just take them off,” Hope says with a sharp laugh.

Josie’s face heats up at the idea of Hope taking her pants off in front of her, and she coughs to cover up the odd choked sound her throat makes the first time she tries to respond. “No, that’s okay, I can do it over the jeans,” Josie says a little too quickly, hoping that Hope hasn’t noticed how red her face is.

“Good plan,” Hope says, smirking at Josie’s embarrassment.

When Josie finishes putting on the bandage, she stands up, frowning down at the floor for a moment. “I think your ankle is swollen, I’ll grab another ice pack for it,” Josie says, mostly to herself.

“Um, Josie,” Hope calls after her before she gets too far.

“Yeah?” Josie says, immediately springing back to Hope’s side.

“Do you think you could grab me some advil? The adrenaline is fading and my ribs are really starting to hurt.”

“Oh, god, yeah, of course!” Josie says, moving to rummage around in her cabinets. “How many do you usually take?” She asks once she finds the bottle.

“Three.”

Josie’s eyes go wide. “Three? I don’t think you’re supposed to take that many at a time.”

“It’s fine.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not, Hope. I’m pretty sure it’s like really bad for you.”

“Josie, if I had gone to the hospital, they’d probably be giving me enough opioids to drop a cow, but we don’t have any of those and I couldn’t afford them anyways, so will you please just give me my three advil,” Hope mutters through gritted teeth. It comes out a lot harsher than she meant it to, but she’s honestly in too much pain to really care right now.

Josie looks like a deer in the headlights for a moment, completely startled by Hope’s outburst. Once she gets a hold of herself, she silently counts out the three pills and hands them to Hope with a cup of water.

“I’ll be right back,” Josie says quietly, walking out of the bathroom.

Hope swallows the pills easily and sighs, feeling a stab of guilt in her abdomen right next to the stab of normal pain where she’s now sure there’s broken a rib.

Josie comes back with another ice pack and kneels down to wrap it around Hope’s swollen ankle. Hope thanks her softly once she’s done, but Josie doesn’t say anything, just moves to grab the antiseptic again.

“I can see the cuts on your face. Are there any other ones I need to clean?” Josie asks as she dampens a new cotton ball.

Hope grunts as she extracts her hand a little from her sleeve, revealing a large gash on the back of her already battered hand.

“Did you know that those guys we’re going to beat you up today?”

Josie sucks in a sharp breath in sympathy upon seeing the wound. She leans up against the counter of the sink and gently takes Hope’s hand in her own. Josie starts silently cleaning the wound with tentative dabbing and a soft, but solid grasp around her wrist. Hope hates how quiet it is, and she probably would’ve broken the silence if Josie hadn’t beat her to it.

“So… Can I ask you something?” Josie asks, hesitantly, her hands stilling momentarily in their task.

“Um, sure.”

Hope considers the question for a moment, understanding why Josie would ask that. “Not exactly,” Hope answers, “stuff like that just happens to me sometimes.”

Josie looks genuinely horrified by the idea that this is a normal occurrence. “What? Why?” She asks, her gaze flickering to meet Hope’s.

Hope laughs dryly, no real humor in her voice. “Because, Josie, 70% of this town hates me and my family’s guts, and the other 30% is a bunch of lowlife criminals that are all too aware of that fact that I am as valuable as I am vulnerable.”

Josie is quiet for a long moment. “I don’t hate you,” She says softly and hesitantly, her thumb brushing gently against the rough skin of Hope’s palm.

Hope feels something pleasant and warm surge in her chest at Josie’s words. It catches her off guard and makes her feel exposed, so she pushes it down until she is able to ignore it. “Thanks,” She murmurs, not really sure how else to respond.

After another long period of silence, Josie speaks again. ”Why didn’t you just run when they came after you?” There is a surprisingly strong current of concern in Josie’s voice, one that makes Hope feel even more guilty for putting her through any of this.

“Because I’m not scared of them, and they need to know that. They’re just a bunch of cowardly little bullies with dads that are cops and probably assholes too. They just don’t realize that beating me up won’t make their dads any less shitty.”

“And that means you have to get beat up?”

“It means I have to face them, to whatever end. Mikaelsons don’t run from fights.”

Josie falls quiet again and Hope watches her out of the corner of her eye. Josie has a vaguely conflicted expression and is chewing on her lip to the point of it becoming a little red and puffy. She won’t meet Hope’s gaze, eyes focused on Hope’s probably already cleaned wound as she continues to disinfect it.

“I suppose that’s why you carry the knives around,” Josie murmurs absently after a long moment.

“Yeah, when it comes to most people, even the chance of getting seriously injured is enough to get them to back off, so having a knife or two can be pretty handy.”

“I assume my dad confiscated whatever ones you had on you today?”

“Yep, I always get patted down after a fight. I usually keep one in my locker in case something happens, but I heard that there was going to be a locker search today, so I had both on me.”

“Sounds like really bad timing,” Josie says sympathetically.

Hope chuckles a little at how simply the day’s problems could be summed up.

“Okay, I think I got this one done. Let me just find a band aid for it,” Josie says, releasing Hope’s injured hand and moving away for a brief moment. When she comes back she is unwrapping a bandage and already has another question on her lips. “So, do those guys just get away with this?” Josie asks, a certain indignation in her voice that demonstrates an innocence that Hope envies.

“Pretty much. Like I said, their dads are cops, so they can get away with a lot.”

“I don’t know how they manage that. Wouldn’t someone notice?”

“When it comes to my family, most people tend to look the other way, for better or worse.”

“That’s dumb,” Josie declares simply, placing the bandage over the wound on Hope’s hand and patting her hand lightly to let her know she’s done.

Hope laughs a little at that, and winces when it aggravates the cut on her lip.

“Oh, right,” Josie says, breaking out of the little daze that seeing Hope Mikaelson laugh put her in. “I should probably move to the ones on your face. Unless there are any others?”

“Not that I know of. Just the one on my lip and the one on my jaw.”

“Okay,” is all Josie says before proceeding to take Hope’s face gently in one of her hands. Her finger tips are soft as they brush against the underside of Hope’s jaw, her thumb only applying the barest about of pressure to get Hope to turn her head. Josie is incomprehensibly gentle as she tilts Hope’s head up and begins to dab lightly at the cut on her lip. 

Hope can’t help but find it cute when Josie’s brow furrows deeply in concentration down at her. Hope gets a little lost in the gentle, surprisingly soothing sensation of Josie’s hand against her jaw, her eyes fluttering closed, so she’s a little caught off guard when Josie tilts her head again and starts to clean her other wound.

“Sorry,” Josie murmurs softly, noticing Hope’s slight flinch.

“It’s okay,” Hope responds immediately, not liking the sound of another apology coming out of Josie’s mouth, especially when she’s the one who should be apologizing for all of this.

Josie finishes cleaning the last wound and places a band aid over the cut on Hope’s jaw, her fingers lingering there far longer than they need to. After a moment, Josie clears her throat and takes a step back, heat rising in her face as she realizes what she had been doing. Not that Hope minded at all.

“Well, that should be it then. How do you feel?” Josie says, moving to pack up some of the first aid stuff so she doesn’t have to meet Hope’s eyes.

“A lot better than I would’ve,” Hope says, leaning down to remove the ice pack around her ankle. She gets to her feet gingerly and walks over to Josie, the other girl turning to face her when she does. “I’m sorry about… being difficult earlier, Josie. I really do appreciate you helping me. Not a lot of people would.”

Something sparks in Josie’s eyes at Hope’s last sentence, but she doesn’t say anything about it. “Of course, Hope. And I’m sorry about Lizzie, I know she can be kind of difficult and judgy and kind of mean, but she means well. She just doesn’t always think before she says things,” Josie says, embarrassment clear in her voice.

“You don’t have to apologize for her, Josie. She’s her own person,” Hope says, frowning at another of Josie’s apologies.

“I know, but…” Josie trails off, realizing that she doesn’t actually having a good excuse. She clears her throat again and changes the subject quickly. “So, do you need anything else before I drop you off? Something to eat? Drink?”

“No, that’s okay, Josie. You’ve done more than enough for me today. Plus, I don’t really want to be here when your dad gets home.”

“Oh, yeah, right. Well, if you’re sure you’re okay to go, then we can go now.”

Hope nods and starts to move back toward the front door. Josie throws a few things back in the cabinets before hurrying after Hope. Josie is glad to see that her dad still hasn’t arrived when she walks out to the garage. She gets behind the wheel and then watches with a concerned expression as Hope winces while making her way into the passenger seat.

“You okay?” Josie asks as she starts the car.

“As okay as you can be with a broken rib or two,” Hope says with a shallow chuckle.

Josie reluctantly accepts this answer, wishing there was something more she could do as she pulls out of the driveway. They drive in relatively uncomfortable silence for a few moments, Hope shifting restlessly in her seat.

“So, you’re in advanced English _and_ AP lit this year?” Hope asks, awkwardly breaking the silence. “That must be pretty hard.”

“Um, yeah, sometimes,” Josie responds, surprised by the question. Making small talk about school with Hope just feels downright absurd at this point. “It’s really just a lot of reading.”

Hope nods thoughtfully. “Makes sense. I considered taking AP lit, but I’m pretty sure the teacher hates me, so probably not.”

Josie laughs lightly. “Yeah, I can see how that could happen. She is really particular and not that good of a teacher. But she likes me, so I don’t have a lot of problems,” Josie says with a shrug.

“I’m sure it helps to be a teacher’s pet,” Hope teases, a smirk on her face.

“Hey! I’m not a teacher’s pet,” Josie objects, her eyes flickering over to Hope before quickly returning to the road, “or, at least, not on purpose. It’s not my fault if teachers like me.”

“I’m just kidding, Josie,” Hope says with a gentle laugh. “It’s not hard to see why people like you.”

Josie freezes and feels her face heat up at the compliment. She pointedly keeps her focus on the driving to save face.

“Take a left up here,” Hope directs, her voice sounding just a little smug.

Josie nods and follows the directions. After a few more blocks and another turn, Hope tells Josie to stop. 

“Is it this one?” Josie points to the nearest apartment building as she pulls up to the curb.

“It’s around here,” Hope answers, not meeting Josie’s eyes as she moves to undo her seatbelt.

“Well, I can take you closer, Hope. I don’t wanna make you walk. Just tell me which one it is,” Josie says.

“No,” Hope says forcefully, raising her eyes to meet Josie’s.

Josie is taken aback by Hope’s reaction. She wants to argue with Hope, but something in her eyes and her tone makes Josie realize that she probably shouldn’t. So she nods uncertainly and she’s pretty sure that Hope relaxes when she does.

“Thank you, Josie, for everything,” Hope says as she gets out of the car. 

“Of course. Have a good night, Hope,” Josie says before Hope closes the car door behind her.

Hope walks up onto the sidewalk and turns to face the car, not moving to go into any building. It takes Josie a moment to realize that Hope is waiting for her to leave. Once she does, she throws Hope an apologetic look before pulling away from the curb and heading home. There is a cold pit in Josie’s stomach at the idea that Hope has so much genuine danger in her life that she can’t risk anyone actually knowing where she lives. She can’t imagine how hard that must be.

When Josie arrives back at home, she greets her dad as she walks in. Alaric doesn’t seem to be particularly concerned about why Josie had been out so late in the evening, only saying hi to his daughter as she passes him on her way to her room. Josie is surprised to find the door to her room open, figuring that Lizzie would be upset with her about the whole Hope thing. As soon as Josie walks in, though, it becomes very clear that Lizzie is still planning to confront her about it, if the death glare is anything to go by.

“What the hell was all that, Josie?” Lizzie says as soon as Josie shuts the door behind her.

Josie practically jumps at the sound of Lizzie’s voice. She spins around and opens her mouth to try an defend herself, but Lizzie continues before she has a chance.

“And please don’t tell me you’re crushing on Hope Mikaelson again! It was bad enough last time.”

Josie feels her face start to heat up. “What? No!” She says quickly, hating how unsteady her voice sounds.

“And don’t get me wrong, I understand it, Josie. I mean, Hope is objectively hot with her leather jacket and tortured loner persona, and she’s compact but sort of well muscled in a way that is definitely appealing.”

Josie frowns briefly at her sister’s surprisingly in depth description.

“But the point is, Josie, that you can do better,” Lizzie concludes, a judgmental look on her face.

Josie has to resist the urge to scoff, knowing that her sister’s standards for dating weren’t exactly high, not that that was even the point. “Lizzie, it’s not like that,” Josie protests. “She really needed help, I couldn’t just say no.”

“Of course you could have, she’s a Mikaelson!” Lizzie insists.

“It’s not like she has any choice in it though,” Josie counters, her voice rising slightly to hold her ground against Lizzie’s increased volume. “It’s not her fault she was born to that family.”

“That may be true, but even though she didn’t chose to be a Mikaelson, she still is one! She was still born in that family and grew up around those people, right?” Lizzie argues.

“Well, yeah, but--” Josie tries to argue back, but Lizzie interrupts her.

“But, what, Josie? But she’s got a good heart? But she doesn’t have to be like them?” Lizzie pauses to let out a long sigh and then her voice becomes serious. “Listen, I know you think that Hope is some misunderstood soul, and maybe she is, I don’t know. But even if she is, you can’t save her, Josie.”

There is a truth there that cuts right through Josie, leaving her frozen and unable to respond. She knows that Lizzie is right. Josie has always had tendency to try and fix people, to find someone broken and hurting and try to take care of them. And Hope fits that profile exactly, which is probably why Josie had a crush on her for so long.

“I’m just trying to protect you, Josie. I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Lizzie says, genuine care in her voice.

Josie nods absently. “I know, Lizzie. It really isn’t like that. I just couldn’t leave her there,” She says, her voice sounding strange and hollow in her own ears.

“Okay, Josie,” Lizzie says, sounding entirely unconvinced.

Josie ignores her sister’s tone and the tight feeling growing in her chest, instead moving to start her homework and put Hope Mikaelson out of her mind.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie is pining and Hope is an asshole to Alaric.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Folks!  
> How's it going? Hope everyone is coping with quarantine better than I am.  
> Thanks to everyone for your continued interest and lovely, lovely comments (also thanks for your patience, I know it's been a while). You're all amazing and I hope you enjoy!

Josie realizes that Lizzie had been right the previous night when the first thing on her mind as soon as she wakes up is Hope. She lets out a frustrated sigh and buries her face deeper into her pillow at the realization, blatantly ignoring her alarm as it continues to ring. Maybe if she doesn’t get out of bed, she won’t have to deal with the fact that she has a crush on Hope Mikaelson,  _ again _ . Unfortunately, Lizzie doesn’t seem to appreciate her plan, as she is shaking Josie out of bed within a few minutes.

Josie moves sluggishly to the bathroom to shower, and as the hot water cascading down her face starts to wake her up, she revises her plan. Maybe if she just doesn’t think about Hope, then the crush will go away. Josie fails this new plan quickly, thinking about Hope’s leather jacket, more specifically how good she looks in it, within seconds of picking out her clothes for the day. Although she probably failed sooner, if she’s being honest.

Over breakfast, Josie spaces out, wondering how Hope is doing, if she’s not in too much pain, and what she might be eating for breakfast that morning. Her father asks her if she finished her homework the previous night and she almost jumps at the question. She says no, but she has time to finish her last assignment during her free period. She then promptly gets lost thinking about whether or not she will see Hope in fourth hour today.

“Girls, don’t forget, I’m going to be gone all this weekend for that administrators’ conference. I’ll have my phone on me, so if you need anything or something happens, just call me, okay?” Alaric says as he fills up his second cup of coffee.

“We know, dad. You have one like every couple of months,” Lizzie says, rolling her eyes. “Josie and I know how to take care of ourselves, right, Josie?” 

Lizzie elbows Josie in the side, jolting her out of her thoughts. “Hm? Yeah, totally,” Josie says absently.

After they finish eating, Josie and Lizzie go back upstairs to collect their stuff for school. Lizzie finishes before Josie and goes to start the car. When Josie finishes shoving her notebooks into her backpack, she hears an annoyed voice call from downstairs asking if she’s done yet.

Josie glances at her bedside table, her thoughts stalling for a second. “Yeah, I just need to grab one more thing!” She calls back, zipping up her backpack.

Josie sets her backpack on her desk and then moves to her bedside table, opening up the top drawer and sticking her hand all the way to the back of it. After a little bit of rummaging, Josie pulls out the switchblade that Hope had given her. Even holding it now sends a little anxious thrill through her. Josie quickly moves back to her backpack and tucks the knife in one of the smaller pockets before hauling it onto her shoulders and hurrying downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs she is met with an irritated looking Lizzie, who she gives a noncommittal shrug, before they head off to school.

Later that morning, Josie is lingering outside her third hour class with Lizzie and MG, wasting time until the bell rings for class. Lizzie is talking about something, but Josie wouldn’t be able say, because she’s not listening. She’s too busy craning her neck to look around the halls, her eyes searching for a specific person that she has yet to catch of a glimpse of today.

“Whatcha looking for?” MG asks from where he stands next to Josie. He takes a glance around the hall, as if trying to see what Josie’s looking at.

Josie jumps slightly at MG’s voice. “Oh, uh, nothing,” Josie mutters quickly.

“Come on, Jo,” Lizzie interjects, rolling her eyes, “you’re looking around like you lost your puppy. Just tell us what’s up.”

“I, uh, I just haven’t seen Hope at all today. I just wanted to make sure she was okay after yesterday,” Josie says, feeling her face heat up as her sister pointedly glares at her.

“What happened yesterday?” MG asks, obliviously.

“Oh, shoot, yeah. I forgot we didn’t tell you yet,” Josie says, proceeding to give MG a brief summary of what happened with Lizzie occasionally interrupting her to include her own commentary.

“Oh, geez, that’s heavy,” MG says, not really knowing how to respond. Fortunately he isn’t given anymore time to, because the bell rings for the next class, which prompts the students to scurry into their respective rooms, pretending like they had been inside the whole time.

Josie slides into her seat next to MG in her third period just seconds before the teacher starts to address the class. They get handed assignments and are given the period to work. Her and MG quickly split the worksheet in half to get it done faster. This is one of the many reasons Josie loves having MG as her partner in physics. They both have a good work ethic and don’t struggle too much with the material, two things that add up to them having a lot of extra time to talk in class.

“So, hey, you’re on drink duty for the party this weekend, right?” Josie asks as she finishes up the last problem on her side of the sheet. 

“Yeah, of course,” MG says, starting to copy down Josie’s portion of the answers. “You think I’d leave the Saltzman’s traditional, Dad’s out of town party hanging?”

“No, of course not,” Josie says quickly, feeling sort of guilty even though she knows MG’s just teasing. “Lizzie’s just been bugging me about it. It’s the first party we’re hosting since the whole thing with Rafael, so I think she’s got high expectations for this one.”

“Makes sense. I better make sure I’m not late then. Maybe I can convince Mr. West to let me out a little early from seventh hour so I can go pick the drinks up a little earlier.”

“You can probably pull it off. Mr. West likes you.”

“That’s what happens when you’re the only kid that actually pays attention in seventh hour wood shop,” MG says with a laugh.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Josie says, not sure why she’s asking to ask considering she knows he’ll say yes.

“Yeah, what’s up?” MG responds, his brow furrowing slightly at Josie’s nervous expression.

“I was just wondering, do you think Lizzie would be okay if I invited someone new to the party this weekend?” Josie says, fidgeting with her fingers in her lap.

“Um, yeah. To be honest, Josie, I don’t think she’d notice, you guys usually have really good turn out at these things,” MG says, looking like he wants to say more, but seemingly decides against it at the last minute.

“Okay, thanks, MG,” Josie says, her mind immediately wandering to the person she already knows she wants to invite. She has her study hall next hour, so it’s a little harder than normal to not think about Hope, which Josie’s been trying to do all day, to very few results. Josie silently makes a plan to invite Hope to the party if she sees her next hour, not even bothering to acknowledge the many ways that could end badly.

Josie gets herself siked up to approach Hope in study hall, only for her anxiety to fade into disappointment when she doesn’t find Hope in the library. Throughout the hour, Josie can’t help but glance over and over again at the door, like Hope will appear at any second. She tries to tell herself that it makes sense for Hope not to be at school today considering her injuries. She probably just needed a day off. 

This rationalization is enough to suppress Josie’s anxiety, for a little while. However, when Josie gets to english class and finds Hope’s chair predictably empty, the worry in her chest starts to fester and ache no matter how hard she tries not to think about it. She just wishes she had some way to make sure that Hope was okay.

Hope wakes up late in the morning with her head pounding and her body aching. She stumbles out of bed to go to the bathroom and take some painkillers before slipping right back under her covers. She is just about to fall back to asleep when her phone rings, the sharp sound feeling like an ice pick to her skull. Hope groans loudly and fumbles for her phone. She doesn’t check the caller id, but as soon as she hears the voice, she knows who it is.

“Hope?”

“Ugh, what do you want, Alaric?” Hope groans, not caring how rude she sounds. She doesn’t like him on a good day, and today is definitely not a good day.

Hope can vaguely hear a sigh from the other end of the phone. “Are you okay? You were marked absent for your first two classes,” Alaric says.

“I’m fine, I just wasn’t feeling good this morning,” Hope grits out, resisting the urge to tell him off or just hang up on him entirely. “Not that you actually care,” She adds harshly. Between the pain in her ribs, the pain in her head, and the general ache of her entire body, Hope isn’t in the mood to listen to Alaric’s fake niceties.

“Oh, is there anything I can do? Anything you need that I can drop off for you?” Alaric says, in this trying too hard to be nice tone that sickens Hope.

“No,” Hope snaps, feeling her anger rise dangerously.

“How are you on groceries? Should I pick you up some stuff for the weekend?” Alaric continues, seemingly unaffected by Hope’s additude.

“I don’t want your fucking help, Alaric!” Hope growls, wincing when she agitates her broken rib in the process. “I can take care of myself.”

The other side of the line is quiet for a long moment. “Okay,” Alaric says, his voice neutral and restrained. Hope can hear him take a long slow breath before he talks again. “Don’t forget, I’m going to be gone this weekend for an admin conference. If anything happens, I’m only three hours away, so just call me and I’ll be back as quickly as I can. I’m sure it’ll be fine, it usually is, but be careful just in case, okay?”

“Are you done?” Hope asks coldly, not really having been listening. Alaric had a tendency to repeat himself because Hope rarely ever did what he asked of her, so it’s not like she really needed to be paying attention.

There is a sigh on the other end and then a slightly resigned, “Yes,” and then Hope is hanging up the phone without another word. She sighs, staring up at the off white ceiling above her, wondering if it’s really worth it to try and go back to sleep. After a hunger pang becomes great enough overcome the other pains in her abdomen, Hope finally decides to get up.

Hope shuffles her way to the small adjacent room that existed as her kitchen, dining, and living room all in one. She didn’t really need more space, but sometimes the apartment felt claustrophobic, especially compared to some of the property owned by her family.

Hope meanders over to her fridge, tenderly checking some of her cuts from the previous day, which all seem to be healing quite well, thanks to Josie. Inside of the fridge, Hope finds not much in the way of food, much to her frustration. She lets out a low groan, knowing that going grocery shopping is the last thing she wants to do today. A tiny voice in her head tells her that she should just text Alaric and tell him to get some stuff for her, but she chooses to ignore that voice and instead eat a piece of bread for breakfast.

While Hope mechanically chews on her slice of bread, she pulls out her phone and texts Rafael. 

Hope:  _ You going off campus for lunch today, dude? _

Raf:  _ Yeah. You skipping today btw? _

Hope: _ Long story. Wanna pick me up for lunch so we can hang? _

Raf:  _ Sure, I’ll text you when I’m heading over. Same place as usual, right? _

Hope:  _ Yep, see ya _

Hope sighs, leaning heavily against the counter top in front of her as she finishes her slice of bread. She glances at the clock on her phone screen, seeing that she has at least an hour before Raf gets out for lunch. Hope moves to grab her sketch book from where she left it in her room a couple of days ago and continues to work on a sketch she’d been working on for the past week. 

When Raf texts Hope that he’s leaving the school, Hope grabs her jacket and goes down to the end of the block to meet him there. He pulls up in his beat up truck and leans over to open up the door for her from the inside. Hope groans softly as she settles into the passenger seat.

“Geez, you look awful. What the hell happened?” Rafael says, eyeing Hope’s still swollen face.

“Pescadero and some of those assholes jumped me yesterday after school,” Hope growls out, anger clear in her voice. “And I had my knives confiscated.”

“Jesus, fuck,” Rafael says with a grimace. “I take it that’s why you weren’t in school today. Are you good?”

Hope laughs dryly. “Yeah, I’m fine, just won’t be taking deep breaths for a while. They banged my ribs up pretty good.”

“Shit, man, I’m sorry. I should’ve been there.”

“Nah, you were visiting your dad and there’s no way you could’ve known,” Hope says, waving off Raf’s guilty expression. “How was the trip, by the way?”

“It was good. We saw a movie and just drove around, talking, for a while.”

“How is your dad?”

“Still sober. He said that things are going well at his new job, too, but only time will tell.”

“Well, it sounds like things are going well, so that’s good.”

“Yeah, it was fun spending time with him. I just hope that now that he’s getting his shit together he doesn’t start to think that he’s allowed to try and take control of my life or whatever,” Raf says bitterly.

“I mean, you made it pretty clear to him that you didn’t need him in your life when he reached out, so hopefully he remembers that.”

The conversation pauses when they reach the drive thru and Rafael leans out the window to order. They don’t resume talking until they reach the end of the drive thru line, hot food in their laps.

“So, what are you going to do about those assholes?” Rafael asks, as he looks for a place to park. 

“Oh, shit, yeah. I almost forgot. I’ve gotta call Roger quick,” Hope says, wrestling her phone out of her pocket.

Rafael raises a questioning eyebrow, content to eat his sandwich in peace while he waits for Hope to make the call.

“Roger?” Hope says once the other end of the phone picks up.

“Well, if it isn’t little Mikaelson. What can I do for you, sweetheart?” The grating voice of a self important twenty six year old, who smokes way too much, speaks from the receiver.

Hope cringes at the term of endearment. Roger is the type of guy to think he’s way more charming than he is, but he’s pretty useful every once in a while, so Hope tolerates it.

“I’m looking to get something off of you. Can you meet me at the gas station on 3rd around 11 tomorrow?” Hope says, her voice sharp and succinct to minimize the time she has to talk to this guy.

“Sure thing, hun. What sort of thing you looking for?”

“Whatever’s cheapest.”

Roger chuckles. “You’re not looking to off yourself, are you Mikaelson? Because, I can probably get you a gun if you’re looking for something marginally more pleasant than an overdose.”

Hope shivers a little at the idea and the casualness with which he says it. “No, definitely not planning a suicide, thanks though,” Hope says through gritted teeth, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“My pleasure,” Roger says without an ounce of self awareness. “So tomorrow, 11am, gas station on 3rd.”

“Yep, bye,” Hope answers, swiftly hanging up after. She sighs before turning to face Rafael’s curious expression.

“So what’s the plan?” Raf says through a bite of hamburger.

“We’re going to plant some shit in those assholes’ lockers, so the next time they do a locker search, they’ll get busted, and, with any luck, get shipped off to some military academy on the opposite side of the state,” Hope explains, grabbing a handful of fries from the bottom of the bag.

“Nice,” Raf says with a dark chuckle. “I take it you need some assistance with that.”

“Just someone to watch over my shoulder while I pick the locks.”

“Sounds good. I’ll meet you by your locker after school tomorrow, after detention, obviously.”

Hope nods in agreement and they finish the rest of their lunch listening to the radio, neither of them really caring when the start of the next class period comes and goes.

Rafael drops Hope off at the exact same place as he picked her up at, a little after the school day has ended. She thanks him for lunch and waves goodbye to him as he heads off for his work shift. Hope lets out a tired sigh as she watches him drive away before turning and heading into her building. 

Hope unlocks her apartment door and freezes when she feels the door hit something on the floor that she doesn’t remember being there. Hope glances around quickly, feeling her heart jump to her throat, just before slowly sticking her head past the slightly ajar door. It only takes a second for Hope to see the brown paper bag of groceries placed just inside her apartment. She lets out a long, harsh breath and pushes into the room, gritting her teeth to get her heart rate to calm back down.

Once inside, Hope bends down with a grunt to pick up the bag and place it on her kitchen counter. Taped to the front of the bag, there is a small white note with irritatingly familiar handwriting.

_ To get you through the weekend -- Alaric _

Hope rolls her eyes and huffs in frustration, but starts putting the groceries away nonetheless. Once she’s finished, she sends Alaric a quick text informing him that she is perfectly capable of getting her own food before heading off to go take a few more pain meds to get her through the evening. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie summons all of her remaining courage and takes a deep breath to prepare herself before opening her mouth again. “Well, I don’t know if you know, but my dad is out of town this weekend for this principle conference thing. He has these things a lot and Lizzie and I usually throw a party while he’s gone. I wasn’t sure if you had heard about it, but I wanted to invite you, if you’re not busy. It starts at 8:00 and I can give you the address if you don’t remember where I live. That’s assuming you can come or want to come, of course,” Josie rambles out much too quickly.
> 
> Hope looks like a deer in the headlights once Josie is done and Josie doesn’t know if that’s a good or bad sign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Folks!  
> Thanks to everyone who left a comment on the last chapter, I love hearing what you guys think!  
> I promise, Hope will eventually be less of an ass to Alaric, but definitely not in this one. I'm trying to sprinkle in their relationship and what that whole deal is, but if it's confusing, don't worry, I'll explain it eventually. This one definitely gives away a little more, tho.  
> Anyways, Enjoy!

The next morning, Hope reluctantly gets up at her fifth alarm, feeling her body ache just as much as the day before. At least she didn’t have a headache this time. Hope barely has enough time to gather her stuff together, making sure she has money to pay Roger as well as her lock picking kit, before she has to start her walk to school. The morning is chilly, but not cold enough to make Hope wish she had worn the jeans without the holes in them.

Hope gets to her first class a few minutes late, but seeing as she has a tendency to not show up at all, the teacher marks her tardy without a word. She can tell that there are more eyes on her than usual today, likely due to the dark coloration still present around her eye. The attention makes Hope more than a little nervous, but she pushes down the anxiety and simply glares at anyone who looks too long. You’d think people would learn to mind their own business by now.

When Hope is walking to her second hour, she sees Josie in the hall, their eyes catching on each other for a moment. Josie’s gaze quickly scans over Hope’s visible injuries before she makes eye contact, her concerned expression wordlessly asking if Hope is okay. Hope can’t help the anxious warmth that fills her chest at the sight of Josie. Hope manages a nod and slight smile at Josie before her eyes return to the floor. She can still feel Josie’s eyes on her as she walks away, but unlike with the rest of her classmates, Josie’s attention makes Hope feel a whole different kind of anxiety, one she’s much less familiar with.

When Josie sees Hope in the halls after first hour, she immediately feels like a weight has been lifted off her chest. She meets Hope’s eyes momentarily, the other girl’s expression impossible to read as usual, before scanning over Hope’s injuries. Josie’s heart aches as she notes the dark discoloration around Hope’s eye and the inflammation around the cut on her lip. The bandages that Josie had applied were gone now, allowing her to just barely catch sight of the thick red scabbing of Hope’s knee through the tear in her jeans.

Josie almost lurches forward down the hallway to catch Hope as she disappears into the crowd, but she stops herself. There is barely a minute left before class and she doesn’t want either of them to be late. She’ll just have to wait for fourth hour to come. Hopefully by then she will have built up enough courage to invite Hope to the party by then.

Josie says a few parting words to her friends before heading into her classroom and taking a seat. The bell rings and the teacher begins talking about the cold war. However, within seconds of class starting, an announcement calls from the loudspeaker.

“Hope Mikaelson, please report to the principal’s office. Hope Mikaelson to the principal’s office,” The speaker buzzes unpleasantly.

Josie furrows her brow and can’t help but wonder how Hope managed to get in trouble in the minute or so it’s been since she saw her in the hall.

Hope, on the other hand, is not surprised to hear her name come over the loudspeaker. She sighs and gets up out of her desk. The teacher hands Hope a pass as she passes in front of his desk and Hope grabs it haphazardly, immediately crumpling it in her hand.

Hope makes her way down the hall to Principal Saltzman’s office. She says nothing to the secretary outside of Alaric’s door, trusting him to know why she’s there. The secretary doesn’t say anything either, just nods in the direction of the door to let Hope know that it’s good for her to go in, not that she would actually wait if Alaric was busy.

Hope opens the door, takes barely a step inside, and closes the door behind her. She leans up against the door and crosses her arms, opting for a more passive way of telling Alaric she doesn’t want to be there than usual. Not that she is cutting him any slack, she is just tired and has more important things to do today.

After a brief moment, Alaric’s head raises from his work. His eyes predictably land on Hope’s black eye first, before quickly finding her other injuries, and, if Hope didn’t know any better, she probably would’ve believed that the look of concern on Alaric’s face is a genuine one.

“Oh, God, Hope,” Alaric breaths out upon seeing her, immediately dropping his pen onto his desk. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s not my first black eye, and it definitely won’t be my last,” Hope says curtly, not really meeting Alaric’s eyes.

“I suppose that’s why you didn’t come to school yesterday, then. I’ll get that corrected in the attendance system,” Alaric murmurs, mostly to himself, moving to write something down on a post-it note.

“So, is that it?” Hope asks, irritably.

“What? No, Hope, I need you to tell me what happened,” Alaric says firmly.

Hope scowls. “It’s none of your business, not that you could do anything anyways.”

“Your wellbeing  _ is _ my business. It is my job to make sure that you are safe, and you know that,” Alaric says, his voice growing sharper.

“Yeah, well, I never asked you to help me, so why don’t you just fuck off,” Hope growls, her voice raising louder than she meant to.

“No, but your father did!” Alaric snaps back, getting to his feet in the heat of the moment. “I promised Klaus that you would be safe in my care, and I mean to keep that promise.”

Hope falls silent as she glares at the floor. Her stomach feels sick at the mention of her Dad.

Alaric sighs and sits back down, running his hair through his hands. “I’m sorry, it’s just frustrating when you won’t tell me anything. I get worried.”

Hope scoffs at that.

“Maybe I shouldn’t go to the conference this weekend? I don’t want anything to happen while there are 300 miles between us,” Alaric mutters, thinking out loud.

“I can take care of myself,” Hope growls, though her defiance is somewhat weaker than before.

“Hope, even if you told me what happened, you wouldn’t be able to convince me that you won that fight,” Alaric says sharply.

It takes a long moment for Hope to respond, her pride bristling at the implications of Alaric’s words, even if they were true.

“It was stupid,” Hope mutters finally. “A handful of assholes on the basketball team thought it would be hilarious to beat me up after school. Trust me, I gave as much as I got.”

“I supposed that would explain a few other injuries,” Alaric says mostly to himself. “Who was it?”

“Why? It’s not like you can do anything about it,” Hope says cynically.

“Humor me,” Alaric says, clearly anticipating Hope’s response.

Hope sighs and rattles off the five names. Alaric writes the names down quickly on a scrap piece of paper as he hears them.

“When and where did it happen at?” Alaric asks next.

“Around 4:30 in the west parking lot.”

“I was still in the building then, Hope. Why didn’t you come and find me?” Alaric asks, equal parts concerned and frustrated.

“I didn’t need your help,” Hope growls out, irritated at having to repeat herself.

“So, you walked home after being beaten to a pulp?” Alaric points out.

Hope grits her teeth before allowing the truth of the matter slip out. “I didn’t. Josie gave me a ride,” Hope mumbles through her clenched jaw. 

She hadn’t exactly wanted to have to tell Alaric that she gotten anywhere near one of his daughters. Alaric is an immensely protective father and Hope is sure that when it comes down to it, Alaric’s love for Josie and Lizzie is stronger than his fear of Klaus, which wouldn’t bode well for Hope in the end.

“My Josie?” Alaric asks, clearly confused by this development.

Hope rolls her eyes and nods. “She also bandaged me up before dropping off at my apartment,” Hope murmurs as softly and incoherently as she can in hopes that he won’t hear it.

Alaric is silent for a long moment, considering this information. “Well, I’m glad you reached out to someone,” He says eventually, “even if I would prefer if it were me. And I suppose, given the context, it’s not really a particularly serious situation, by Mikaelson standards at least.”

“Like I said, it was stupid and I can take care of myself,” Hope repeats irritably.

Alaric sighs. “Hope, you’re a very capable young woman, and, most of the time, I do trust you, but everyone needs to ask for help occasionally. Just, please be careful while I’m gone this weekend, and if anything even starts to look suspicious, let me know,” Alaric says soberly.

Hope rolls her eyes again, but nods in agreement. Whether she would admit it or not, she is always more careful when Alaric is gone, and she’s pretty damn careful to begin with, so that’s saying something.

“Alright, thank you for talking with me, Hope. Is there anything else I can do for you before I send you back to class?”

Hope quickly remembers her little appointment at 11 with Roger and decides that it will be quicker if she doesn’t have to sneak in and out of the school. “Yeah, actually. I could use a pass for fourth hour. I have some errands to run,” Hope says, her tone making it clear that follow up questions would be futile.

Alaric gives her a slightly suspicious look, but digs the pad of passes out of his desk drawer anyways. Hope takes the pass without a word and reluctantly goes back to her second hour class, anxious to get today over with.

Josie has scraped together all of her courage to invite Hope to her party when she walks into the library for fourth hour. Unfortunately, her efforts go to waste when Hope doesn’t even show up. Josie spends the whole period half focusing on an assignment as she glances at the door every other minute. Josie wants to be mad that Hope didn’t show up, but really, what reason did Josie have to assume that she would be there? So instead, Josie just ends up embarrassed and worried that she won’t get a chance to invite Hope before the party tomorrow night.

Thankfully, Josie does see Hope in English class. Hope arrives at the last minute, so Josie doesn’t have a chance to talk to her before class. Josie tries to catch Hope’s eye during the class, but it proves difficult, because Josie has to turn around all the way in her chair to even see Hope and Hope seems to not notice Josie at all. 

The only option left then is for Josie to talk to Hope after class, but that requires more courage than Josie thinks she has left in her. Hope doesn’t tend to linger after class so she only has a short time frame and, given how Hope has been acting so far, Josie will need to explicitly get the other girl’s attention. In the end, Josie ends up chickening out, which she blames on needing to talk to the teacher.

Josie sighs dejectedly as she heads to her last class, realizing that she has basically missed her last chance to invite Hope to the party.

After seventh hour is over, Josie collects her things and heads off toward the computer lab for a newspaper meeting. She mostly spaces out for the meeting, only tuning back in when she has to tell the editor about her next article ideas. Once the meeting is over, Josie heads off toward her locker to drop some stuff off, but she only makes it about halfway there before freezing in her step.

Josie thinks that some god somewhere must like her, because in front of her is Hope Mikaelson, standing with her back to Josie and her head burrowed in a locker. Josie is so excited that she still has a chance to invite Hope that she doesn’t even notice that the locker Hope’s head is in is definitely not hers. In fact, Josie hardly even notices that Rafael is there too.

“Hope?” Josie calls to get the girl’s attention as she approaches.

Hope flinches, her head jerking toward Josie. “Josie?” Hope says tightly, an slightly panicked look on her face. She motions to Rafael for something before turning and taking a few step toward Josie. “Hey, what’s up?”

Josie can’t help but smile a little at finally being able to talk to Hope after waiting so long. “Not much, I’m just getting out of a newspaper meeting. How are you doing?” Josie says, her voice laced with concern.

“Still sore and not taking any deep breaths, but can’t complain,” Hope says with a little wry chuckle.

“That’s good. I was a little worried when you didn’t come in yesterday, but I guess it makes sense to take a day to heal,” Josie says, her face heating up at the not completely intentional confession.

At the same time, Hope’s next words dry up on her tongue, her brain struggling to process the fact Josie had been worried about her. It makes her heart ache in a way that feels dangerous. Thankfully, before Hope’s sudden lack of speech becomes too obvious, Josie starts talking again.

“Oh, actually, Hope, I wanted to talk to you about something, if that’s okay. I was going to ask you during fourth hour, but you weren’t there.”

“Uh, yeah, I had an errand to run,” Hope says in a way that definitely doesn’t dissuade suspicion. “What did you want to ask me?”

Josie summons all of her remaining courage and takes a deep breath to prepare herself before opening her mouth again. “Well, I don’t know if you know, but my dad is out of town this weekend for this principle conference thing. He has these things a lot and Lizzie and I usually throw a party while he’s gone. I wasn’t sure if you had heard about it, but I wanted to invite you, if you’re not busy. It starts at 8:00 and I can give you the address if you don’t remember where I live. That’s assuming you can come or want to come, of course,” Josie rambles out much too quickly.

Hope looks like a deer in the headlights once Josie is done and Josie doesn’t know if that’s a good or bad sign.

“I, uh, I’ll have to check to see if I have anything going on, but maybe,” Hope says, looking incredibly uncomfortable even as she tries to sound positive.

“Okay, cool, maybe I’ll see you there then,” Josie says with a nervous smile. Then she gives a brief wave before spinning on her heels and walking away as fast as her anxiety will take her.

Hope sighs a breath of relief as soon as Josie is out of sight. She turns back to Rafael and the locker, one of which is giving her a very amused expression.

“What?” Hope asks a little sharply as she sticks her head back in the locker and continues the process of hiding drugs in someone else’s locker.

“Nothing, I just didn’t think you of all people would ever land Josie Saltzman,” Rafael says with an obnoxious laugh.

Hope pulls her head out just enough to glare at her friend. “What are you talking about?” Hope snaps, knowing relatively well what Raf is implying.

“Oh, come on, don’t tell me you don’t see it. She was “worried” about you and  _ personally _ invited you to her party. I didn’t even think people got invited to parties anymore,” Raf says with a smirk that is obnoxious enough to rival his laugh.

“And?” Hope says as she emerges from the locker, closing it and starting down the hall to the next locker.

“And she obviously likes you, dude! Please tell me you’re not that oblivious.”

Hope shakes her head. “I think you’re reading too much into it. Plus, even if you were right, getting involved with Josie Saltzman is a bad idea.”

“What are you talking about? Josie is like the goodiest pair of shoes in the world and still isn’t a narc. I mean her sister is… a lot, but you aren’t the type to be deterred by that.”

“I meant it would be bad for her, you dickwad. Being around me isn’t the safest thing in the world and I’m not putting Josie’s life in danger just because I think she’s cute.”

“So you  _ do _ think she’s cute.”

Hope slugs Rafael in the arm before pulling out her lockpicks as they reach the next locker. “Of course, I think she’s cute. I have eyes, Raf,” Hope snaps, focusing on the lock instead of the flush rising in her cheeks.

“Well, then are you going to go to the party?”

Hope sighs. “You know how I feel about parties, Raf.”

“Oh, come on! You never have any fun, Hope. Just chill out for a little bit and go flirt with a pretty girl tomorrow.”

“Hey, I have fun. I just don’t exactly consider being crammed together with a bunch of drunk teenagers fun.”

“Even if one of those teenagers is Josie?”

Hope only groans in response.

“What if give you a ride and promise to leave as soon as you want to?”

Hope is silent for a long moment, only speaking again once she has gotten the locker open. “Okay, fine,” Hope concedes. “I’ll go for a little bit, but you have to make sure that Lizzie doesn’t see you, because I’m sure that won’t end well.”

“Oh, I’m way ahead of you, Mikaelson. God knows that if anyone ends up killing me, it’ll probably be Lizzie Saltzman.”

“That’s not something to be proud of, Raf,” Hope says with a laugh and a roll of her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hope? Are you okay?” Josie’s voice cuts through Hope’s anxious thoughts. Josie has taken a step closer to Hope, her hand hovering in the air like she wants to reach out to Hope but isn’t sure if she should. Her brown eyes are worried and searching as they meet Hope’s.
> 
> “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just not great with crowds,” Hope manages shakily through short puffs of breath.
> 
> Josie’s eyes widen in realization. “Oh, come with me,” Josie says, extending her hand to Hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *appears from the anxiety ether* Behold an update!  
> Howdy Folks, please enjoy my humble offering before I sink back into trying desperately to understand my calculus II class. You guys are amazing and thank you so much for reading!  
> Enjoy!

It’s friday night, the night of Josie’s party, and Hope is staring at her closet. Rafael just texted Hope that he will be over in about ten minutes, which means Hope really needs to decide on which pants to wear. She had worn her good pair of jeans yesterday on a whim, so now she has to decide whether to wear her second best pair of jeans or wear the same ones she wore yesterday. Neither seems like a good option at the moment and she is definitely way over thinking it.

_ Fuck it, just wear the good jeans. No one will notice,  _ Hope thinks to herself, grabbing the jeans off her floor and tugging them on. Then she throws on an old, comfortable band tee, something to help her feel a little less anxious. After that she grabs a few knives and her jacket, and heads out to the street corner to meet Raf.

Raf pulls up in his beat up truck a few minutes later. He looks relatively nice, wearing a black button up that actually looks ironed and clean. It’s even tucked in to a relatively nice pair of pants with a black belt. Hope is actually pretty surprised to see Rafael all cleaned up as she climbs into the truck. She has to admit it does look good on him.

“Is that what you’re wearing?” Rafael asks, once Hope has settled in a little. 

Hope frowns. “Yeah, why?”

“Well, didn’t you wear those jeans yesterday?” Rafael says, raising an eyebrow.

Hope scowls deeply, feeling all of her insecurities flare up again. “They’re my good pair, okay? Whatever, fuck you, man,” Hope grumbles, turning to look out the window.

“Hey, I was just kidding, Hope,” Rafael clarifies quickly with a laugh after seeing how anxious Hope is. “No one will be able to tell. And you look good. It’s just you look like you always do. I figured you would want dress up a little to, I don’t know, maybe impress a certain someone.”

Hope’s frown softens a little. “I’d rather be comfortable,” Hope mumbles, knowing that Rafael understands how anxious this stuff makes her.

“Okay, that’s fair. Don’t forget, when you want to leave, just text me and I’ll meet you by the car,” Rafael says, clearly in an attempt to reassure his friend.

“Yep, and you don’t forget to hide from the hostess,” Hope responds with a smirk.

“It shouldn’t be hard. Lizzie tends to make her presence known.”

Hope chuckles, remembering the two months in sixth grade that Lizzie went around literally announcing herself every time she entered a room.

Hope and Rafael arrive at the party about an hour after it starts, so the house is already filled with half wasted teenagers and loud music by the time they pull up. Hope teases Rafael as he attempts to parallel park, which he does not find funny. Eventually, they manage to be legally parked without hitting any other vehicles.

“You know, you don’t get to talk shit. You don’t even have a drivers license,” Rafael says as he gets out of the car.

“Yeah, but that’s not because I don’t know how to drive. It’s because my legal documentation is suspicious at best, which has no effect on my driving ability,” Hope responds, rolling her eyes.

“No, but having never taken driver’s ed, it does affect your knowledge of the law,” Rafael shoots back.

“Oh, please, it’s not like anyone really follows those anyways. I know the important ones,” Hope says, hardly able to keep a straight face.

Rafael laughs as they make their way up to the house. The front door is open on the other side of an outer screen door, communicating a sort of open door policy, one that makes Hope actively uncomfortable. 

Raf opens the screen door and moves to walk inside, but he pulls back when he notices Hope hesitating a few feet from the entry way. He turns around to face his friend and tries not to let his sigh sound too frustrated.

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Raf says, resting his hands on Hope’s shoulders and looking her right in the eye so that she knows he means it. “Just don’t over think it, okay? Try to have fun and hopefully flirt with Josie, and if you get overwhelmed, just text me.”

Hope gives Rafael a skeptical look, but nods.

“Now, come on, they’re playing my favorite song!” Rafael says, grabbing Hope’s hand and dragging her inside the house.

“I thought your favorite song was the spiderman theme song?” Hope says, having to shout a little as they get closer to the pounding music.

Rafael looks mildly offended that Hope would shout such a thing. “First of all, shut up. Do you want the whole party to hear? Second of all, I meant like, my favorite song that comes on the radio or whatever.”

Hope laughs a little. “Okay, well, enjoy your non-spiderman favorite song. I’m not interested in feeling the music in my skull, so I’m going to go in the opposite direction.”

Rafael chuckles and gives a thumbs up before heading off into the music. Hope shakes her head as she heads off toward the kitchen, where the least people seem to be congregating. Hope worms her way into the back corner, pressing her back against the wall as she tries to stay be as far away from other people as is possible at a party like this. 

Hope watches as people continuously shuffle into the kitchen, grab drinks, and shuffle back out again, never lingering long, save a few people chatting by the refrigerator. The fact that Hope barely recognizes any of the people at the party does not calm her anxiety at all. For all she knows, any one of these people could try and stab her while she’s not looking. She feels almost frozen in place as she listens to her heart rate match the beat of whatever song is playing in the next room.

“Hope, you made it!” Josie’s voice calls over the music, breaking Hope out of her anxiety induced daze. 

Josie is dressed in a fitted sweater and a pair of short shorts that definitely draw Hope’s gaze away from Josie’s eyes. Josie is also sporting an incredibly bright smile, as if just seeing Hope has made her night ten times better. She does a little jog over to where Hope is pressed against the wall of the kitchen, almost bumping into someone carrying too many drinks in her enthusiasm.

Hope gives a tense chuckle in response. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

“I’m so glad you decided to come,” Josie says cheerfully, her smile somehow getting brighter. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Oh, I don’t really drink,” Hope mumbles awkwardly.

Josie blinks at Hope for a second before laughing. “I meant like a soda or something. We have non alcoholic stuff too.”

“Oh,” Hope responds, her anxiety spiking in an entirely different direction. “Well, uh, sure, then. I’m good with whatever.”

“Okay, be right back then,” Josie says with a smile, moving to dodge through people on her way to one of the drink coolers nearby. She comes back to Hope relatively quickly and without anyone spilling a drink on her, two cans of soda in her hands.

“One for you and one for me,” Josie says cheerfully, handing Hope the drink.

“Thanks,” Hope mumbles, taking a long sip of her drink in lieu of having anything else to say.

Josie, however, doesn’t seem phased at all by the awkward silence between them. “Your face is looking a lot better.”

“Well, I mean, that’s really all thanks to you, so…” Hope says with a nervous smile. She glances around the room, both to avoid meeting Josie’s gaze and to note which people have left or entered the room since the last time she checked.

Josie chuckles like Hope has told a joke. Hope doesn’t get what’s funny about what she said, but doesn’t say anything about it. To be fair, Hope would normally recognize when someone is obviously flirting with her, but a new group of people had just arrived at the party and were all swarming into the kitchen to get drinks.

Hope’s heart rate picks up at the sudden surge of people and she suddenly feels like she can’t breath. She unconsciously pushes herself even more into the wall behind her, almost like she is trying to pass through it. Her hands clench and one goes to grip the knife in her pocket without thinking.

“Hope? Are you okay?” Josie’s voice cuts through Hope’s anxious thoughts. Josie has taken a step closer to Hope, her hand hovering in the air like she wants to reach out to Hope but isn’t sure if she should. Her brown eyes are worried and searching as they meet Hope’s.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just not great with crowds,” Hope manages shakily through short puffs of breath.

Josie’s eyes widen in realization. “Oh, come with me,” Josie says, extending her hand to Hope.

The idea of holding Josie’s hand is obviously very inviting, but Hope is surprised by how easy it is to just let Josie lead her through the house, without knowing where they are going or why. Thankfully, they don’t have to pass through too much of the party before they reach the staircase to the second floor. The second floor still has a few people milling around, but it’s significantly less and the music sounds far away, all of which allow Hope to catch her breath. Josie throws a glance at Hope to check in once they’ve reach the top of the stairs before continuing on to her bedroom.

Hope takes a few tentative steps into Josie’s room as her heart beat calms. Josie closes the door behind them and moves to take a seat on the bed.

“Are you okay?” Josie asks, her voice sounding loud in the sudden quiet of the enclosed room.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Hope says shakily, still trying to get her breathing to even out.

“You don’t need to apologize, I get it. Lizzie gets panic attacks sometimes too,” Josie says, hands fiddling absently with her bedspread. “You know, you didn’t have to come if you knew you were going to be uncomfortable. You could’ve just told me and I would’ve understood.”

Hope shrugs. “Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have gotten to see you,” She says with a smirk that definitely seems a little out of place on a girl who is recovering from a panic attack, but Josie would be lying if it didn’t still cause her heart to beat faster.

“Well, you know, you could’ve just asked for my number?” Josie says hesitantly.

Hope lets out a laugh that’s only a little unsteady. “Alright, that’s fair,” Hope says, reaching to pull her phone out of her pocket. She gets a new contact up and hands it to Josie.

Josie stares at the outstretched phone for an embarrassingly long moment, her mind going blank as to what she is supposed to do next. She smiles nervously when she finally gets a hold of herself and types in her number. Just as Josie is handing the phone back, a text message pops up on the screen. She reads it before she can think better of it.

Raf:  _ You good? Usually, you’re ready to leave by now. _

Josie furrows her brow as Hope takes her phone back, moving to answer the text.

“Hope? Did you bring Rafael here?” Josie says, her mind soaring to all the terrible things that could happen should Lizzie stumble upon him.

“Well, technically,  _ he _ brought me. He’s my ride,” Hope says casually, looking with confusion at Josie’s worried expression. “But, don’t worry, I made sure he’d avoid Lizzie like his life depended on it, which it probably does.”

Josie lets out a sharp laugh, her anxiety starting to fade at the reassurance. “Okay, that’s good. I’d hate to have to help Lizzie hide another body,” Josie jokes, reveling in the way that Hope laughs in response.

“Another?” Hope asks, amused.

“Hey, you have your secrets, and I have mine,” Josie says, unable to keep a straight face as she does so.

“Well, I don’t think I’ve ever hidden a body, but you never know when I might need a few tips. So, if you have some experience, I’m all ears.”

“No comment,” Josie says with a laugh, making the motion of zipping her lips closed.

“Alright, keep your secrets, then.”

The two laugh for a few moments before being enveloped in the sound of muffled music once again.

“I-I’m kidding,” Josie clarifies shyly as their laughter dies down.

“I figured,” Hope says with a smile, but after a moment it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

“You know, you can sit down if you want,” Josie says, trying to distract from whatever caused them to slip into awkward silence again.

“Uh, that’s okay. I get restless if I sit too long,” Hope says, pacing a little as she says it as if in demonstration. 

Hope looks around Josie’s room as she paces, only then becoming familiar with her surroundings. Her eyes slide over almost every detail of Josie’s side of the room, while sparing only a glance at Lizzie’s side. Something about the way Hope surveys all of her belongings, makes Josie uncomfortable and hopeful in a way she doesn’t really understand. It feels like an eternity before Hope speaks again, although it’s probably not that long in reality.

Hope’s eyes eventually land on Josie’s bookshelf. “Hey, isn’t that the book I checked out the other day,” Hope says, pointing to Josie’s worn copy of  _ In the Time of the Butterflies _ . “I didn’t know you’d read it.”

“Oh, yeah, I love that book, which I’m sure you can tell by the awful condition of my copy,” Josie says with a nervous laugh.

“I mean, you do seem like a second hand book kind of girl, so I didn’t want to assume.”

Josie blushes and feels her heart beat pick up, even though she’s not really sure if that counts as a compliment or not. Mostly, Josie is just taken aback at the idea that Hope has put that much thought into her.

“Well, it’s both, actually. I did get it at a second hand bookstore, but it was in pretty good condition before I got my hands on it.”

Hope chuckles, her finger coming up to brush against the spine of the book. “Can I?” She asks, quickly glancing at Josie.

“Yeah, sure,” Josie says, sounding a little too excited at Hope’s interest.

Hope’s hands gently ease the book out of its place on the shelf. She shifts so that the spine is in her palm, her thumb coming to brush against the pages as she examines the alternate cover. She holds it almost reverently, like she knows how much that book means to Josie. Josie finds her mind wandering to how it might feel to have Hope touch  _ her _ like that.

“I think I like this version of the cover better,” Hope says after a moment, breaking Josie out of her thoughts.

“Oh, yeah, I’m pretty fond of that cover too, probably because I’ve spent so much time with it,” Josie says with a low chuckle. “By the way, how are you liking the book?” Josie struggles to keep the excitement out of her voice at finally being able to talk to someone about this book.

“I haven’t had that much time to read, but I like it. It took me a few chapters to get used to the structure, but it’s really cool.”

“Oh, yes! I love the style. I’ve never read anything like it before or since and I can’t get over how awesome it is.” Josie pauses, an embarrassed blush coming over her cheeks at her outburst. “How far have you gotten?”

“I don’t remember, let me check,” Hope says, moving to flip through the early parts of the book, skimming the pages as she goes. “I think I just started the fourth chapter.”

“Oh, you’re close to the first big time skip. Do you have a favorite character, yet?” Josie asks, her enthusiasm getting even more blatant.

Hope smiles a little shyly before answering. “Uh, yeah, it’s probably Minerva. I don’t know if it’s just me projecting, but she gives off really strong bi vibes.”

“Oh god, I know right! I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees it,” Josie exclaims, her mind choosing not to process the part where Hope seemed to imply that she’s bisexual. 

Josie always had her suspicions about Hope, but she figured it was just wishful thinking. Her little pan heart can’t handle that revelation right now, though, with Hope standing in her bedroom being all hot and cool and just a little bit vulnerable for her. She would probably spontaneously combust.

Hope laughs at Josie’s excitement as she moves to place the book back on Josie’s shelf. “Well, I’m glad I’ll have someone to talk to about the book, because I have a feeling it’s not going to end well,” Hope says jokingly.

Josie laughs, knowing that the book is obviously a tragedy from the start. “Yes! you have to tell me everything during fourth hour. I want to hear all of your thoughts.” Josie pauses, her brow furrowing momentarily. “Wait, what class do you even have fourth hour?”

“Geometry.”

“How do you get away with skipping math everyday?” Josie asks incredulously.

Hope laughs. “No offense to your dad, but he figured out pretty quickly that he couldn’t exactly stop me.”

“So, you just walk out of the school when fourth hour rolls around?”

“Well, I usually only leave if I have something else to do. Raf and Landon sometimes skip with me and we grab an early lunch or something. I do get caught, sometimes though, and then I get a nice little pat down from our local Officer Mac and agree to stay on school premises if I get to chill in the library for the hour.”

“Wow, I can’t imagine doing something like that. I’d probably have an anxiety attack if I got caught trying to skip.” Josie then adds quickly, “Not that I skip class, but like if I ever did.”

Hope takes a few steps toward Josie, leaning against her bed frame and smirking down at her. “You’ve never skipped before?”

“I mean, I’ve left a little earlier than I needed to for a track meet a few times.”

“That definitely doesn’t count as skipping, but it’s a good start,” Hope says with a laugh. “You should skip with me some time. We can start easy with an early lunch, considering you have study hall, and then we can work our way up to actually missing a class.”

Josie laughs anxiously, her heart beating faster at the mere idea of skipping class with Hope. “I don’t know. I can probably convince my dad to give us a pass if we want to grab lunch early.”

“But then it doesn’t count as skipping, Josie. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I get it if you want to keep that perfect attendance record you’ve built for 5 years. I just figured you might want to break the rules for once and try something new,” Hope says, clearly teasing Josie.

Josie huffs a little, though she’s still smiling. “You know there’s nothing wrong with wanting to follow the rules,” She says indignantly.

“I guess, but rules aren’t always made for a good reason. Some rules are meant to be broken,” Hope says, leaning in closer to Josie. Her eyes involuntarily flicker to Josie’s lips for a second and she prays that Josie doesn’t notice.

“That’s not true, rules are made for a reason, and it’s certainly not for them to be broken,” Josie says, rolling her eyes and trying not to think about how hot her face feels or how close Hope is to her right now.

“That doesn’t mean they are just, though, does it. Don’t you want to be a revolutionary?” Hope asks, her voice low as she deliberately references the worn book sitting on Josie’s shelf.

Josie’s heart is in her throat as Hope’s face seems to edge closer and closer to hers. Josie’s eyes flicker down to Hope’s lips. They look chapped and chewed and still have the remnants of a cut from the fight a few days ago. They look like they hurt and Josie suddenly just wants to kiss them better.

Unfortunately, before either of them can close the distance, a very distinct, ear drum bursting shout comes from downstairs, somehow overcoming the music and the din of the crowd.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING HERE!”

Josie and Hope jump at the sound and share a look as they simultaneously guess what has happened from Lizzie’s shout. Within seconds, they are rushing down the stairs in hopes of preventing a murder.

Hope spots them first, Josie right on her heels. In the corner of the living room, Rafael is crouched on the ground looking terrified as he is boxed in by a very angry Lizzie Saltzman. Hope rushes over and Raf’s eyes quickly find her.

“Raf, what the hell?” Hope shouts over the music, which she really wishes someone would turn off.

“I’m sorry, I got stuck between some people and she cornered me,” Raf shouts back.

It’s only then that Hope realizes her mistake, because Lizzie spins around to face her with pure fury in her eyes.

“ _ You! _ ” Lizzie hisses as she locks onto Hope. “Who the fuck invited you! That’s right, no one! What the fuck do you think you’re doing crashing my party!”

“Good to see you too, Lizzie,” Hope says sarcastically.

“I ought to call the fucking cops on you so you can get locked up where you belong like the rest of your fucking family!” Lizzie snarls.

Hope freezes, her eyes locked on the ones burning into her skull. She’s stuck between the anxiety of having everyone’s eyes on her as the entire party comes to see the commotion and anger at Lizzie thinking she has any right to talk about her family. She doesn’t know anything about Hope’s family.

Luckily, before anyone can start swinging, Josie jumps in between them.

“Lizzie, stop, it’s not worth it,” Josie pleads, partially because she doesn’t want her sister and her crush to fight, and partially because Josie knows that Hope would win and that would have far worse consequences for everyone.

Lizzie at least seems to hear her sister, but she still glances over Josie’s shoulder to throw one more barb at Hope. “Get the fuck out of my house, Mikaelson, and take the piece of shit you came in with!” Lizzie growls, gesturing to Rafael, who is trying to sneak out of the corner Lizzie has trapped him in.

Hope clenches her jaw as tightly as she can, feeling the dull pain run through her muscles. She knows she needs to get out of there, sooner rather than later, but she can’t help trying to get the last word. 

“I just came to fuck your sister, so my business is done here anyways,” Hope snarls, her smirk cruel and her glare cold. She regrets it as soon as the words are out of her mouth, but she’s already turning around and getting out of there as fast as humanly possible. Even though she didn’t see Josie’s reaction, that doesn’t stop her from imagining every horrible possibility.

As soon as they are out of the house, Rafael bursts out laughing. “Oh my god! I can’t believe you actually said that. She looked so fucking pissed.”

Hope’s fist connects with Raf’s shoulder, a sharp pain running up her arm from aggravating the bruises on her knuckles. “Shut the fuck up, Raf,” Hope snaps, her voice wavering a little. She bites down hard on her lip to stop the tears from forming in her eyes.

Rafael thankfully falls silent for the rest of the way to the car and for most of the ride to Hope’s apartment. Only once they have reached the place that he usually drops Hope off at does he finally say anything.

“Hey, I’m sorry, Hope,” Rafael says sincerely, if a little uncomfortable with the admission. “I shouldn’t have bugged you into going to this thing. I know that you’re not into parties and this one was pretty clearly a bad idea from the start, so yeah…”

Hope has her forehead against the dashboard and her arms up over her head, so her voice is a little muffled when she responds. “It’s fine. This is probably for the best anyways. It’s not like I actually had a future with Josie. She was bound to get hurt, so I’m glad it happened sooner rather than later. At least, Lizzie didn’t murder either of us.”

Raf chuckles without much humor. “Yeah, that’s a plus.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, man,” Hope says, moving to exit the truck.

“Yeah, see ya,” Rafael says, a crease appearing in his brow when Hope won’t even meet his eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I spend like a fourth of this chapter talking about a book I like? Yes. Do I regret it? No. Do I think you should read it too? Absolutely! It is a little heavy with some sensitive topics, but if you're into some really creative historical fiction about the revolution in the Dominican Republic, then please check out In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow the idea of not seeing Josie at all today is worse than having to face the consequences of her mistake, so Hope pulls out her phone quickly. The teacher gives her a look but Hope stopped caring a long time ago. Hope quickly types out a message to the newest contact in her phone.
> 
> _Hey, this is Hope, can we talk?_
> 
> Hope stares at the message for a long moment before sending it. She is surprised by how quickly she gets a response. Guess Josie doesn’t follow every rule.
> 
>  _I’ll be there_.
> 
> .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Folks!  
> This one is paced a little weird because I can't for the life of me remember why I didn't add the first scene in this chapter to the end of the last one, but oh well. Also, in case you didn't notice, I did finally change the tags to reflect my much too ambitious plans for this fic, mostly because Penelope will finally appear in the next chapter.  
> Also, it will probably be a while before the next update because the semester is coming to a close and I am, ironically, going to fail my writing course if I don't make up a shit ton of work. Thanks for sticking with me and my sporadic posting. Love you guys!  
> Anyways, Enjoy!

Hope stares at the sidewalk below her feet as she waits for Raf to drive away. Only once the sound of his truck is barely audible in the distance does she head for her apartment. Once she gets inside, she immediately strips down and crawls into bed, laying face down on her mattress, her blanket bunched up around her waist. She’s not really trying to go to sleep. She knows her anxiety and guilt will keep her up for at least another three hours. Even still, she is startled when she hears her phone ring in the kitchen.

Hope is a little confused for a second, because her cellphone is on her bed stand, but she quickly remembers her family phone, otherwise known as the untraceable burner phone that she uses only to be in contact with her family. She usually has it on her just as much as her normal phone, just in case, but tonight didn’t seem like a good night to bring it with her and she didn’t think she would be staying long anyways.

Hope jumps to her feet as quickly as her sluggish body can manage and rushes to pick up her family phone. Communications on the phone are rare, so when it happens, it’s always important.

“Yes,” Hope says once she picks up the phone.

“Hey, little wolf,” the voice on the other side of the phone says, a light teasing in his tone. Hope quickly recognizes it as the unmistakable sound of her adoptive brother, Marcel.

“Hey, what’s up?” Hope says, too tired not to get straight to the point.

“We’ve got a little deal brewing that we need a little help with. We finally struck an alliance with Silas and we’re helping him move some shit. Figured the home away from home would be a good way point to switch the trucks out,” Marcel explains.

Hope furrows her brow. “Are we sure we can trust him?”

“No, but that’s why you’re going to keep an eye on them. Silas’s son is coming up to make sure everything goes smoothly, and we need you to do the same. I’ll text you the details of when to meet with him and then you guys can hash out the specifics of when and where to do the transfer. Think you can do that, little wolf?”

“Yeah, of course, I can handle that.”

“You sure? If you’re not comfortable, we can find another way.”

“It’ll be fine, Marcel.”

“Okay, give me a call if you need anything or something doesn’t seem right. Keep an eye open and be careful.”

Hope nods even though Marcel can’t see her. “Always and forever,” She says in parting.

“Always and forever, little one,” Marcel says before hanging up.

Hope sighs as she puts the phone back down on the counter. At least now she has something to do while she waits for her body to let her sleep.

Hope spends most of her weekend planning for the cargo transfer, making contingencies for her contingencies just to make sure that things will go smoothly. There is some homework she should catch up on, but this seems a little more important right now.

On Saturday, Rafael treats Hope to an apology lunch and they hang out until he has to go to work. Later, she texts Landon a little to catch him up on what happened at the party. He is very glad he was not able to go. Hope thinks about texting Josie, even types out a few apologies, before chickening out and deleting them. It’s probably better to do it in person anyways, or maybe it’d be better if she didn’t do it at all and just left Josie alone from now on. The second option makes Hope’s heart ache in a way she’s not familiar with, so she tries not to think about it.

When Monday rolls around, Hope almost doesn’t even go to school. Between the anxiety of having a business meeting at the end of the week and the anxiety of facing Josie, Hope’s not sure she’s going to survive until the end of the day.

When Hope finally forces herself to go to school, she arrives at least ten minutes late, totally not because she was scared of seeing Josie in the halls. After first hour, she goes to Alaric’s office to inform him that she is still alive, considering he was being so weird before he left that weekend and also totally not to avoid Josie in the halls again. Later, Hope sits, restless, in her third hour, trying to think about what on earth she could say to Josie to make her not hate her. It’s only at the last moment that Hope realizes that Josie might not even be in the library during fourth hour if she didn’t want to see Hope.

Somehow the idea of not seeing Josie at all today is worse than having to face the consequences of her mistake, so Hope pulls out her phone quickly. The teacher gives her a look but Hope stopped caring a long time ago. Hope quickly types out a message to the newest contact in her phone.

_Hey, this is Hope, can we talk?_

Hope stares at the message for a long moment before sending it. She is surprised by how quickly she gets a response. Guess Josie doesn’t follow every rule.

 _I’ll be there_.

Hope assumes this means that Josie will be in the library like usual, but from the terse phasing, Hope can only guess that Josie is really pissed at her. Although, if Hope thinks about it, she doesn’t think she’s ever actually seen Josie angry. Not a great first.

Hope slogs through the rest of her third hour, feeling every second pass as she vibrates anxiously in her seat. When third hour ends, Hope is the first one out the door. She doesn’t exactly know what she’s going to say, and she doesn’t have a lot of experience apologizing to people, but she does know that Josie deserves an apology, a good apology, and Hope will give her one even if it kills her.

Hope waits in the library for the entirety of passing period without seeing Josie. She starts to think that maybe Josie was just fucking with her when she agreed to talk, not that Hope would blame her. But then, two minutes after the late bell, Josie walks into the library looking absolutely exhausted.

Hope stands up from where she is sitting at their usual table when Josie comes in. Josie doesn’t meet her eyes and walks right past her and places her things down at the table, on the opposite side that Hope is. Hope opens her mouth to talk, but nothing comes out.

“You wanted to talk?” Josie says, finally turning to face Hope, her arms crossed over her chest. Her voice is rough, tired, and clearly irritated.

It takes a second for Hope to respond and when she does, it’s underwhelming. “Um, yeah, I did.”

Josie raises an impatient eyebrow when Hope doesn’t say anything after.

Hope shakes her head to try and remove whatever fog has encompassed her brain. “Sorry, uh, I’ll get to the point,” Hope says, her heartrate starting to pick up to an unhealthy level. “Josie, I really want to apologize for what happened at your party. For one, I never should have brough Rafael to your house, given his history with both you and Lizzie, that was an awful, awful idea and I’m sorry. Secondly, I’m really sorry for what I said that night. I’m… sensitive about family stuff and I let my anger get the better of me. I wasn’t thinking and I’m sorry. I can only imagine the ways in which I hurt you, and I want you to know that that was never something I ever wanted to do, and I am so sorry.”

Hope’s eyes are locked on the worn carpet below their feet as she speaks, only looking up once she’s finished. Josie’s gaze is softer that it had been before, but her brow is still furrowed, and her arms are still crossed. Hope freezes with her mouth half open, looking at Josie expectantly. It’s not that Hope thought that Josie would forgive her right away, or at all for that matter, but at this point Hope’s out of words and she doesn’t know where to go next.

“Do you have any idea how angry Lizzie was at me?” Josie asks after a moment, her voice is much less hostile than Hope expects, almost like she is just genuinely asking.

Hope winces a little at the question. “Pretty angry?”

“Really fucking angry, Hope,” Josie says, emphasizing each word.

“Sorry,” Hope says again.

After a moment, Josie sighs and sits down. Hope pulls out a nearby chair to sit next to her.

“I had to spend the rest of the night trying to convince her that we didn’t…you know,” Josie says, a finger pressed to her temple.

“Have sex?” Hope fills for Josie, with a slightly amused expression.

“Yeah,” Josie says, her face heating up a little at the idea. “But, do you have any idea how long it took to convince her?” At this point she sounds more exasperated than mad, which Hope takes as a good sign, along with the fact that Josie is still talking to her at all.

“How long?”

“Three hours!” Josie says suddenly. “It took _three hours_ , Hope.”

Hope can’t help the sharp laugh that escapes her. “Oh, my god, I’m so sorry,” Hope says through her barely held in laughter

“Do you have any idea what it’s like spending three hours trying to convince your sister that you didn’t have sex?” Josie says, humor creeping its way into her voice.

At this point, Hope is starting to get that the questions are probably rhetorical, so she just gives Josie an expectant look.

“It’s awful! I didn’t even know where to start explaining everything wrong with what you said. I mean, it was so obvious that you clearly just said it to get on her nerves, so I don’t even know how she took it seriously to begin with,” Josie explains animatedly, proceeding to go through the number of different arguments she had to use to talk her sister down.

Hope is happy to listen as Josie rants for rest of the period. Despite Hope royally fucking up, things between them seem to slide back to normal relatively easily, except with more teasing on Josie’s part. Every few minutes, Josie pointedly reminds Hope about the three hours of her life that she would never get back, with increasingly more lighthearted tone.

Near the end of the period, Josie says, “I hope you know that I’m never going to let this go, right?”

Hope chuckles. “Honestly, if that’s the price of being able to say that I still know you in 20 years, it’s a cheap price to pay.”

Hope hadn’t meant it to sound so sincere. It was supposed to be a joke, until Hope realizes that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d even thought about still being alive in 20 years and she suddenly wishes she’d never said it. But then she sees the soft smile on Josie’s face and the slight color in her cheeks and maybe she doesn’t regret it so much.

“Well, I’m glad, because I will be making you pay,” Josie jokes, cutting the tension perfectly as they both laugh.

Over the next couple of days, things settle down a bit, which Hope has never been more grateful for. She actually enjoys going to school each day just to see Josie in the halls while avoiding Lizzie at all costs, and to hang out with Josie during fourth hour and then sometimes skip with Raf and Landon after. It’s nice, it’s normal, and it helps Hope to get her mind off of the family stuff she has to worry about. Hope also makes sure to spend some time reading every night because she loves how excited Josie gets every time she gets to talk about the book Hope’s reading.

On Thursday, Hope and Josie are in the library like usual. Josie is ranting about some book they’re reading in AP Lit. Apparently, it’s bad. Hope is working on a sketch while she listens, something she has started doing recently. Josie asked about it once and Hope got really uncomfortable, so she didn’t bring it up again, which Hope appreciates.

“So, yeah, I don’t know if I’m going to survive the five chapters that are left in this book. I might die of boredom,” Josie concludes with an exasperated sigh.

Hope chuckles. “That’s too bad. I guess I’ll have to find someone else to hang out with this hour,” Hope says casually, an amused lilt to her voice.

Josie gives Hope’s shoulder a playful shove. “Jerk,” She says smiling. “Oh, I almost forgot, do you want a ride after school today? I don’t have any meetings today and Lizzie is hanging with some of the cheerleaders before their game tonight.”

Hope normally gets a little defensive when people offer her rides unprompted, but Josie mostly seems to just be asking if she wants to hang out a little after school, which is definitely something Hope is down for.

“Yeah, sure, I can meet you by your locker if that works,” Hope says with a smile.

“Definitely!” Josie says, her face lighting up.

“Oh, fuck, actually, I have detention after school today,” Hope says suddenly.

“Oh.” Josie says, her face falling in disappointment.

“I can totally blow it off, though. I do it all the time,” Hope says, feeling a sense of loss at causing Josie’s smile to disappear.

“I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

Hope snorts at that. “I get in plenty of trouble all by myself, I don’t think a little more would do much damage.”

“But, don’t you get more time added on every time you miss detention?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“How about I just wait for you? It’s only like 45 minutes and I have some homework to do anyways. You could meet me in the library after,” Josie offers

Hope feels a little guilty at making Josie wait around for her, but Josie doesn’t seem to mind, and Hope does want to see more of her. “Yeah, that would work.”

“Awesome! I’ll see you after school then,” Josie says, right as the bell rings

“Yeah, see you then,” Hope says, getting to her feet. She waits for a few seconds as Josie gathers her things so they can leave together. They say another set of goodbyes outside the library doors before parting ways.

Hope’s leg bounces anxiously as she waits for the detention period to be up. She chose the desk right next to the door today, forgoing her usual back corner in exchange for getting out of the room marginally quicker. It feels silly now that she thinks about it. Then again, she is the first one out the door when time is up, so you can’t say it was for nothing.

When Hope gets to the library, she spots Josie immediately. She’s not the only one studying after school, but she is sitting at the same table that they always sit at during fourth hour, which is exactly where Hope’s eyes go first. Josie’s chair is pulled away from the table and she sits with her legs crossed on it. Her posture is hunched over, a book presumably in her lap. As Hope approaches, she sees that Josie’s brow is furrowed in frustration and Hope figures she’s probably reading her AP Lit book.

“Hey,” Hope says to catch Josie’s attention.

Josie’s head jerks up, the frustrated expression on her face disappearing when she sees Hope. “Hey! Ready to go?” She asks brightly, moving to gather her things.

“I’m more than ready to leave this place and never come back,” Hope says dryly, “but alas.”

Josie chuckles as they head toward the door. “Hey, it’s only two more years, and then we’re finally free of the living hell that is high school,” She says melodramatically.

“I’m surprised you feel like that. I thought the teacher’s pet was supposed to like school?” Hope teases.

Josie huffs in response. “It’s called being a former gifted student suffering from unrealistic self-imposed expectations and a debilitating need to get approval from authority figures, duh.”

Hope laughs out loud at that.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like learning, but it will be a lot better when I get to college and I can study more of what I actually care about,” Josie says sincerely. “Do you plan on going to college, Hope?”

Hope hesitates at that. “I don’t know. I never really thought about it.”

“Well, what do you want to do when you grow up?”

“I always assumed I’d just join the family business,” Hope says tensely, trying really hard to dance around the fact that she never really expected to be alive by the time she got to that point.

“You never thought about doing anything else?”

Hope bristles a little at the pity in Josie’s voice, but just shrugs in response. “What are you planning on going into?” Hope asks, quickly changing the subject.

Josie hesitates a little before responding, picking up on Hope’s discomfort. “I’m not really sure yet. I really like literature and writing, but there’s not much you can do with an English degree. It’s either that or pre-med. I don’t know if I could make it through med school, but I would love to be able to help people like that,” Josie explains as they come out of the school and into the parking lot.

Hope smiles. “I think you’d make a great doctor.”

Josie blushes at the confidence with which Hope says that, ducking her head in embarrassment. “Aw, thanks, Hope,” She murmurs self-consciously.

They take a few more steps into the parking lot before Josie stops in her tracks.

“Oh, shoot! I forgot my anatomy and physiology textbook in my locker,” Josie exclaims. “I don’t want to keep you waiting, but I’ve got to study for the test next week. I’ll just go run quick and grab it.”

“No worries, I can just wait here,” Hope says, moving to lean against the school building. It’s baffling to Hope that Josie is worried about making her wait after she waited almost an hour for Hope to be done with detention.

“Thanks, Hope! I’ll be right back.”

Hope watches Josie run back into the school with a slight shake of her head. Hope will never understand why Josie apologizes so much for so many inconsequential things, like Hope could ever blame her. Hope kind of hates that she seems to make Josie so anxious, but it’s hard to complain too much when she looks that cute.

Hope is still looking toward the side entrance of the school with a slight smile on her face, thinking about how cute Josie is when a pair of hands shove Hope up against the brick wall of the school behind her. Hope’s fight or flight instinct immediately goes off and she’s about to go straight for her assailant’s balls when she feels the cold press of metal against her neck. Hope goes rigid as she’s pinned to the wall, knife to her throat.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Hope Mikaelson? Looks like I’ve just caught the biggest fish of my life. I wonder how much your family will pay to get you back,” The man sneers, leaning in far too close for Hope’s comfort.

Hope doesn’t respond right away, taking a second to look at the idiot who decided he had a death wish today. Her brain runs through all the groups and lowlifes that she knows in Mystic Falls before landing on the most likely.

“Guess Roland’s gang must be getting pretty desperate if you decided this would be a good idea,” Hope sneers back, projecting every ounce of confidence she has as her brain scrambles to find a way out of this that doesn’t end with her being gutted.

“Shut up!” The man snaps, clearly being put off balance by Hope having his number so easily.

“Walk away right fucking now and you can still save your skin. Little fish shouldn’t play in the big pond,” Hope says condescendingly.

“Oh please, you don’t scare me little girl. I’m not the one with a knife to my throat,” The man spits out. “Speaking of which, I’d like to keep it that way,” He says, using his spare hand to rummage in Hope’s jacket for her knife.

Hope curses internally, panic starting to rise in her chest as rough hands search for her only means of protection. She still has one in her boot, but there is no way she can get to it from this position. Hope is about to consider some risky maneuvers when she sees a movement out of the corner of her eye. She forces herself to stare directly into the eyes of her assailant, so she doesn’t give away the fact that Josie is rounding the corner of the building, heading right for them.

It takes a second for Josie to notice that something is wrong, her eyes going wide as she freezes in place. Her eyes immediately go to meet Hope’s and it takes almost all of Hope’s willpower to not look at her. However, when Josie goes to look at Hope, she sees the knife against her throat, and understanding seems to click into place. Hope has no idea what Josie is thinking when she turns around and goes back around the corner, but she doesn’t have time to think about it because the man finally finds the knife in her jacket, yanking it out and throwing it onto the ground.

“Not so scary now, are we?” The man taunts with a harsh laugh. “I don’t know why so many shitheads in this town are scared of a 16-year-old girl who can’t even reach the top fucking shelf.”

Hope struggles to respond, her breath coming in anxious bursts as she watches Josie come back around the corner and start to approach the man from behind. Hope needs to say something to keep his attention away from Josie, whatever she is doing.

“Better than a scumbag who lurks on high school campuses. Which one of us is really more pathetic?” Hope sneers, her heart rate spiking dangerously the closer Josie got to them. If this went wrong they could both get hurt and Hope doesn’t think she could stand to be the reason that Josie gets hurt.

The man opens his mouth to speak again but goes stock still before he can utter a sound.

“Let her go, unless you want to lose a kidney,” Josie says, the pocketknife Hope had gifted her pressed up against the man’s lower back. She tries to say it with as much authority as she can, but her hands are shaking and her voice is uneven.

The man recovers from his shock after a brief moment, surprise quickly becoming anger. “Try it and I’ll slit you little friend’s throat,” He growls, his own breathing getting more erratic.

Hope lets out a sharp laugh. “Oh, please, I’m worth fucking nothing to you dead. All that would get you is a target on your back, and you know it. Just give it up, asshole.”

The man’s face contorts in rage, but the pressure of the knife against Hope’s neck lessens and then disappears, the man dropping the knife to the ground and raising his hands in surrender.

Hope slips out from where she was pinned to the wall so she can breathe a little easier before growling out, “Get the fuck out of here, you piece of shit, and don’t you dare think I’ll forget this.”

The man gives one stubborn glance behind him before running off, tail between his legs.

Josie stands there for a long moment, staring at the place the man had been, knife still outstretched in her shaking hand. She can’t believe she did that. She can’t believe it worked. She can’t believe any of this even happened.

After a moment, Josie is broken out of her thoughts by Hope letting out a triumphant, borderline hysterical laugh.

“Holy shit, Jo!” Hope exclaims as she turns to Josie, sporting the biggest smile Josie had ever seen on Hope’s face. “You’re a fucking legend! I can’t believe you did that! You’re absolutely fucking amazing!” Hope shouts enthusiastically, turning to wrap Josie in a tight hug and spin her around, just barely lifting the taller girl off the ground.

Hope’s arms disappear from around Josie almost as quickly as they appeared, not giving Josie any time to process what was happening and to feel embarrassed about how much it made her heart soar.

“My heart is beating so fast,” Josie murmurs absently through quickened breath, still struggling to process, well, everything. Although, she’d be lying if Hope’s weird enthusiasm wasn’t a little contagious.

“Oh, fuck, sorry,” Hope says, calming down and turning to Josie with an understanding look in her eyes. “Deep breaths, take your time, this shit can be overwhelming. You handled it perfectly, though,” Hope says gently, laying a steady hand on Josie’s arm.

Josie follows instructions, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths. Once she’s done, she opens her eyes to see Hope smiling again, a kind of smile brighter than Josie has seen from Hope before, for whatever reason that Josie just doesn’t get.

“You can probably put the knife away now, Jo,” Hope suggests gently, nudging Josie with her elbow.

“Oh, yeah,” Josie says self-consciously, folding the knife back together and slipping it into her pocket. She is starting to get why Hope carries her knives around with her all the time. There is something about that weight in her pocket and knowing what it can do that makes her feel safer, stronger, almost… powerful.

Hope moves to collect the two knives littered on the ground from the encounter. She quickly pockets her own but turns back to Josie with the other one in hand. “Hey, Jo, you want this one? You did earn it, spoils of war or whatever,” She says playfully.

Josie is a little startled at the idea. Owning a knife is still one of the weirdest things she’s ever done in her life, but she had no idea what she would do with two. She shakes her head after a moment. “No, that’s okay,” She says, her voice still sounding absent.

Hope looks at Josie for a moment, a sudden shift in her expression to something more serious and much harder to read. She pockets the other knife without a word and steps close to Josie, placing a gentle hand on her back. “Hey, are you okay? I know this is a lot.”

Josie is silent for a moment, really considering the question. “I think so,” She says, not really believing it. Hope doesn’t seem to really believe it either, but she doesn’t say anything about it.

“Well, if you ever want to talk, let me know.” Hope pauses, glancing down at the ground. “And, Josie, I really do appreciate your help today. Thank you, for this and for every other time. It means a lot.” Hope says so sincerely it makes her chest hurt.

“Of course,” Josie says firmly, feeling a familiar ache at the reminder of how few people Hope has in her life that she can rely on.

“Also, can I just say, ‘let her go unless you want to lose a kidney’ is such a fucking badass line. I’m in awe.” Hope says with a laugh, quickly shifting the conversation back to something lighter.

Josie feels her face heat up. “Thanks, I guess I was just thinking about anatomy, because, you know,” Josie says shyly, holding up the textbook she had left to go get.

Hope laughs, shaking her head a little. “You’re adorable, Jo,” She says as they start walking toward Josie’s car together.

Josie blushes, biting her lip against the smile fighting its way onto her face. It’s not a battle she wins, but she’s not sure she would have it any other way.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Penelope?” Josie calls out absently into the hall.
> 
> Hope frowns and turns to look at Penelope, seeing a surprised and uncertain expression on her face. In fact, Penelope almost looks a little afraid as she makes eye contact with Josie and stutters in her step.
> 
> “Hey, Josie… long time no see,” Penelope says weakly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Folks!  
> Guess who's a barely employed college dropout now? I mean, it does give me more time to write, so it's not all bad. I stayed up way too late writing this one, and, god, my not-having-any-idea-how-organized-crime-works really jumped out. Hopefully my bullshitting isn't too obvious.  
> Also, Penelope is here now. That's going to be fun. Almost as much fun as me trying to figure out how I'm going to structure future chapters, lmao.  
> Anyways, enjoy!

The day that Hope is supposed to meet up with Silas’s son, Marcel texts the name of a bar on the north side of town with the meet time set for 10. The bar is a relatively upstanding establishment with enough foot traffic that Hope can disappear a little in the crowd. It’s also only about a ten minute walk from her apartment. It’s a perfect choice, but Hope can still feel the tension knotting in her shoulders as she grabs her plans, a knife, and her fake ID.

Hope takes a seat on the far right of the bar, three stools between her and anyone else. She looks over her plans while she waits for her contact to find her. She hates leaving the interaction up to the other party, hates giving them that control. She fiddles with the edge of her notebook and glances at the room around her, feeling much too exposed.

After about five minutes, someone slips into the seat next to Hope.

“Can I buy you a drink?”

Hope turns and scrutinizes the person who has just sat next to her. She is a girl, oddly appearing to be about the same age as Hope. She has cropped dark hair and a confident smirk. She eyes Hope up and down suggestively.

Hope scowls in response. “No. Get lost,” Hope growls low. She is really not in the mood tonight.

“Are you sure? I get to write it off as a business expense anyways, so you might as well,” The girl responds playfully.

Hope’s scowl deepens before her brain catches up with the words that have been said. She frowns after a second, turning to face the girl with a confused expression.

“Mikaelson, right?” The girl says with a knowing smirk. “I’m Penelope, Penelope Park,” She says, extending a hand in greeting.

“I thought I was meeting with Silas’s son,” Hope says, ignoring the outstretched hand.

Penelope seems to bristle a little at that. “Yeah, well, he’s here too, but I thought I’d save you the unfortunate experience of actually having to talk to my brother,” Penelope says with exaggerated distaste. “You’re welcome.”

Hope narrowed her eyes at Penelope. She didn’t like this. What were they trying to pull? “How old are you?” Hope blurts out, the words coming out like an accusation.

“How old are you?” Penelope counters with a raised eyebrow.

“Sixteen,” Hope answers uncertainly. She thought everybody knew who she was already.

“Yeah, well, me too,” Penelope says as if the line of questioning was ridiculous to begin with.

A long moment stretches between the two girls where Hope just watches Penelope with suspicion and Penelope looks back at her expectantly.

“Alright, let’s get to business then,” Hope says opening up her notebook where the map of Mystic Falls is tucked inside.

“Are you sure you don’t want that drink? It’s on me,” Penelope says, motioning for the bartender.

“No,” Hope answers, glaring at Penelope.

“Your loss. I’m going to get something, though,” Penelope says before turning to the bartender and ordering a soda.

“I don’t have all night, Park,” Hope growls, the grip on her pencil getting tighter.

“Geez, you’re no fun,” Penelope mutters, taking a sip of her drink. “Okay then, if you’re so anxious to get to business, show me what you’ve got.”

Hope proceeds to go over the details of the transfer on Penelope’s end, to make sure that everything is still the same. Penelope nods as Hope describes the number of trucks, the time frame, and the amount of cargo. Then Hope details the best suited locations for a few different times that she has organized.

Penelope gives a thoughtful once over of the map and Hope’s notes before saying, “Wouldn’t it make more sense to take the direct route into town. It’d be faster, so the drivers would be less likely to get spotted?”

Hope shakes her head, irritation bubbling up at being questioned. She’s lived in this town for most of her life. She knows how to plan a cargo transfer here.

“Nobody is ever on those county highways, no one will see them out there. The direct route on the other hand goes right past two police traffic stops,” Hope grits out, her jaw clenched.

Penelope looks at Hope for a moment, her gaze penetrating and calculating. “Sorry,” Penelope says, almost managing to sound sincere. “I get it, you know your stuff. I just figured I’d ask now so I don’t say anything stupid later.”

Hope grinds her teeth, refusing to look up at Penelope, only staring down at her notebook. She had to admit, this girl is charming, but she’s not dumb. It’s all an act and Hope’s seen enough deals go down to know better than to fall for it.

“Whatever, just tell me what the timetable is as of now so I can let you know which location will work,” Hope says bluntly.

Penelope nods, her gaze still focusing on Hope intently. “They should be here in two days, around 11pm if traffic is predictable.”

Hope nods, scanning her notes. “Warehouse on Parkfield,” Hope says, pointing to the address on the page.

Penelope pulls out her phone and writes the address down in her notes app. “This right?” She says, showing Hope the entry to make sure she got it down right.

Hope nods and starts to pack up her things.

“Last chance on that drink,” Penelope says with a smirk just as Hope is about to leave her seat.

“Just don’t be late, Park,” Hope says, ignoring the girl as she turns to leave. Her nerves prickle as she makes her way to the door, still feeling Penelope’s gaze on her.

The next day, Hope actually shows up to school a little early. To be fair, it’s because she woke up at four in the morning from her anxiety about the meeting that night and wasn’t able to get back to sleep, so she shouldn’t get too much credit. Regardless, Hope is tired, irritable, and about one wrong word from starting a fight as she walks through the parking lot that morning and the first thing she sees as she approaches the door is none other than Penelope fucking Park. Penelope Park leaning up against the brick by the door. Penelope Park turning to see her with a smirk. Penelope Park pushing off the wall to meet her halfway.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Hope growls, her hand dipping into her pocket to clench around her switchblade.

Penelope shrugs. “My brother didn’t want to deal with me all day and we didn’t want the job to bust because I got caught being a delinquent.”

Hope scowls. Everything about Penelope sets off alarm bells in Hope’s head. Everything she does feels so deliberate, practiced, and manipulative. There is no reason a Park would attend a shitty high school in the middle of nowhere unless they were planning something.

“Yeah, well, stay the hell away from me,” Hope snaps, moving to walk past Penelope.

Penelope doesn’t even hesitate before following after Hope. “Oh, come on, you’re not going to show me around,” She says with a smirk.

Hope grits her teeth and tries to ignore Penelope, but Hope can feel her with every step, watching her, following her, standing too  _ fucking _ close.

Hope skids to a stop and puts three steps of space between her and Penelope. “I don’t know what makes you think I trust you, but in case it wasn’t clear, I don’t. I’m not in a habit of trusting Parks considering the last person who did ended up in a casket,” Hope snaps, her breath coming out a little labored.

The smirk fades off Penelope’s face, but she doesn’t look surprised or upset. She just watches Hope for a long moment and it makes Hope’s skin crawl.

“Listen, Mikaelson,” Penelope says finally, her voice suddenly cold and straight forward. “I need to avoid drawing attention at this school, so no one looks too hard at why I’m here. So why don’t we just pretend to be buddies and hope no one asks any questions so this doesn’t get messy, okay?”

Hope glares at Penelope for a moment, trying to find the flaw in her logic or figure out what she could be planning. Penelope stares back, giving nothing away except a slight look of impatience.

“Fine,” Hope mutters, starting to move toward the door again. “Just don’t stand so close to me.”

“Personal space, got it,” Penelope says, the smirk and the performance quickly sliding back into place.

Hope tries to ignore Penelope’s presence still weighing her down as she heads into the school. For a second, she almost manages to forget Penelope is there when she spots Josie in the hall, hanging around outside a classroom with her sister. Almost as if knowing that Hope is there, Josie suddenly turns to face her, except her eyes don’t land on Hope. They land just next to Hope, her eyes suddenly growing wide.

“Penelope?” Josie calls out absently into the hall.

Hope frowns and turns to look at Penelope, seeing a surprised and uncertain expression on her face. In fact, Penelope almost looks a little afraid as she makes eye contact with Josie and stutters in her step.

“Hey, Josie… long time no see,” Penelope says weakly.

“What are you doing here?” Josie asks, her initial confusion turning into something that almost looked like anger. She doesn’t wait for a response, instead immediately turning to Hope to ask, “You know her?”

“Uh,” Hope says, her tired brain taking a second to catch up, “sort of? How do you know her?”

Josie pauses, looking back and forth between Hope and Penelope for a moment, apprehension and anger in her eyes. “I’ll tell you later,” Josie says haltingly, her voice strained. She looks like she’d rather be anywhere else in the world. “I’ve, uh, got to go to class.”

Despite there being a good five minutes until the bell, Josie disappears into the nearby classroom, leaving her sister behind. Lizzie looks only marginally less confused than Hope feels, but still manages to shoot both her and Penelope a glare before following after Josie.

Lizzie walks into the classroom and immediately takes her usual seat next to her sister. She scoots her desk a little closer to Josie as she places her backpack down on the ground.

“That was Penelope? Like the girl who broke your heart into like a million little pieces, Penelope?” Lizzie asks once she’s seated, the disdain clear in her voice.

Josie nods, picking absently at the bits of paper poking out of her notebook’s binding. “What the hell is she even doing here,” Josie mutters quietly, her voice sounding far away.

“And how does she know fucking Mikaelson?” Lizzie adds in disgust.

Hope stands in the hall, watching Penelope with a frown. People are starting to get irritated at them being in the middle of the hallway, but Penelope seems unwilling to move an inch. She stares off in the direction that Josie went like a sad puppy whose owner has just left them. Hope probably would’ve laughed if she wasn’t still so tired or confused.

“How the fuck do you know Josie?” Hope asks after a moment, though her voice has slightly less animosity toward Penelope than it did earlier.

It takes a few seconds for Penelope to respond, her eyes never leaving the classroom doorway. “It’s probably not my place to say.”

“Okay, whatever,” Hope says irritably as she starts to move forward down the hall so people will stop giving them dirty looks.

Penelope seems to catch on when Hope crosses her field of vision and breaks whatever trance she was in and follows after. “Anyways,” Penelope says, awkwardly trying to recover her laid-back confidence. “Want to point me toward the counselor? I still need to get my schedule.”

Hope raises an eyebrow at Penelope’s attempt to sound unaffected, but she decides not to point it out. “Yeah, it’s just around the corner. It’s not a big school, so everything is always like two steps away.”

“Good to know,” Penelope says as she heads off toward the counselor’s office, her smirk starting to reemerge.

Hope finds out during second hour that she shares that class and her fifth hour with Penelope, the latter of which really bugs Hope because it means she can’t just dip after fourth hour. Well, she could, but she’s not sure it’s a good idea to take her eyes off of Penelope for too long, especially given the way Josie reacted to seeing her. Seeing Josie get that upset made Hope want to push Penelope out a window, even if it wouldn’t do much in a one-story building.

Hope is especially anxious to get to the library once third hour lets out, her mind swirling with possible explanations for how Josie and Penelope know each other. Not knowing makes Hope’s chest tight. Penelope Park is not the type of person Josie should be hanging around with. Although the same thing is true of Hope, the reminder of which does not help Hope’s anxiety.

When Hope gets to the library, Josie is already there, frowning down at her laptop. She appears to be having some technical issue if the forceful way she’s repeatedly pressing the trackpad is any indication. Just as Hope reaches Josie, she lets out a loud aggravated groan and brings her fist down a little too hard on the table, causing it to shudder.

“You okay there?” Hope asks, slightly amused as she takes a seat next to Josie.

Josie looks up, startled, but relaxes when she sees that it’s Hope. “Yeah, I’m fine. The data analysis program for my physics course just isn’t working,” Josie grumbles, roughly pushing her computer into the middle of the table in frustration. She continues to glare at if for a moment, like she’s expecting an apology for it being difficult.

“Well, then you don’t have to do the assignment, right? Just blame it on the program,” Hope suggests.

Josie lets out a dry laugh. “I can’t do that,” She says with a shake of her head.

“Why not?”

Josie just sighs and shakes her head again.

Hope watches Josie chew on her lip as she frowns down at the table for a long moment. “You sure you’re okay?” Hope asks gently.

Josie sighs again. “Seeing Penelope has just got me all over the place today. I can’t focus on anything,” Josie says, gesturing with her hands to emphasize her frustration. “I mean, why is she even in Mystic Falls?”

“Well, she’s doing a job with me,” Hope answers hesitantly, not sure how much Josie knows about Penelope.

“What?” Josie says sharply, spinning in her chair to face Hope.

Hope looks at Josie for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to go about this. “Josie, do you know Penelope’s last name?” Hope asks carefully.

Josie shakes her head, her brow furrowing.

“It’s Penelope Park,” Hope says, and when Josie doesn’t react, she adds, “as in Silas Park.”

Josie only looks more confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Hope.”

“Sorry, sometimes I forget that not everybody is familiar with the world of organized crime,” Hope says with a dry laugh. “Silas Park is one of the most powerful crime bosses in the entire world, although he’s not known for being particularly trustworthy. Penelope is his daughter, and she’s here in Mystic Falls to do business with me and my family.”

“Oh.” Josie says quietly. “I didn’t know that.”

“How did you meet, Penelope?” Hope asks gently, trying not to sound as impatient to know as she feels.

It takes a second for Josie to register Hope’s question, still struggling to process that Penelope is the daughter of a mob boss. You’d think it wouldn’t be hard given the same is true of Hope, but then again knowing two daughters of infamous crime bosses isn’t exactly something one would expect to happen in their life.

“I, uh, met her the summer after freshman year,” Josie starts. “Lizzie and I were spending the break in Paris with our mom. It was amazing, getting to see the sights and experience the culture for three whole months. But there was this coffee shop right next door to where our mom’s apartment was, and in the afternoons, when we were done seeing the sights for the day, I’d go down there and just hang out. Lizzie got into the habit of taking naps in the afternoon and mom had to do stuff for her work around that time, so I’d be down there by myself most days.

“I mostly just spent the time people watching, listening to the baristas speak French behind the counter, and nursing a cup of hot chocolate. About a month in I met Penelope. She came into the café one day and just started flirting with me. I was really flattered, but I didn’t think much of it, until she came back the next day and the day after that and just kept coming back to see me.

“It was basically a living teenage fantasy, going on vacation to a different country, meeting an irresistibly cute girl, and having an epic summer romance. I mean, what 14-year-old girl wouldn’t fall in love. She was even my first kiss.

“At the end of the summer, I gave her my phone number and we promised to stay in touch. I mean, I was silly to think it could’ve worked out, but I was 14. I texted her as soon as our plane landed in Richmond, but I never heard from her. She just ghosted me,” Josie finishes bitterly.

“That’s awful,” Hope says, scowling at the idea that anyone would do that to Josie. The thought made her irrationally angry as well as something else, something that twisted painfully in her stomach, that she couldn’t identify. She didn’t like Penelope to begin with but now she isn’t sure if she should go to her fifth hour in case she ends up trying to beat Penelope to a bloody pulp.

“I honestly never thought I’d see her again.”

“Well, she won’t be in town for long. Our deal should be done by the end of the week and then hopefully we’ll never see her again,” Hope says, her voice low and aggressive, like a threat.

“Yeah,” Josie agrees weakly, staring off into space, consumed by her thoughts.

The bell suddenly rings, startling both Hope and Josie out of the moment. They don’t say anything as they gather their things and head for the door. They only make it a few steps into the hall before they are stopped by none other than Penelope Park.

“Hey,” Penelope says lamely, looking between Josie who refuses to meet her eyes and Hope who is giving her a death glare. After a second, she lands on Hope. “I take it Josie told you the story?” Penelope says, a bit of weak humor in her voice.

Hope doesn’t bother to say anything, only taking a protective step forward, putting herself between Josie and Penelope.

“Uh, Josie?” Penelope says, glancing around Hope to try and get Josie’s attention. She has to take a slight step to the side so she can see Josie all while trying to ignore the way Hope looks like she wants to kill her.

Josie’s gaze finally rises to look at Penelope. The anger that had been there before has mostly melted away, leaving only the hurt of resurfaced memories.

“I was hoping we could talk,” Penelope says, awkwardly. “After school, maybe.”

Josie looks at Penelope for a long time, conflict clear in her eyes. Eventually, Josie says, “I have a meeting after school. It’ll be done at four in room 132.”

Hope scowls, glancing at Josie in surprise. Josie doesn’t meet her eyes, instead choosing to quickly walk away without another word, leaving them both behind in the middle of the hall once more.

“So, fifth hour?” Penelope prompts after a moment.

“You better not hurt her, Park,” Hope growls out, ignoring Penelope’s attempt to change the subject.

Infuriatingly, Penelope smiles at Hope, a smile that almost seemed genuine. “You fell for her too, huh?”

Hope’s anger falters at the empathy and pain in Penelope’s voice. She knows she shouldn’t be taken in by Penelope’s performance. It’s just an act. But, god, is it convincing.

“I never meant to hurt her, Hope,” Penelope says sincerely, regret clear in her voice. “But she deserves better than either us, anyways.”

Hope can’t help but let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah.”

Josie is exhausted by the time her newspaper meeting ends. The day has been so draining and she wants nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed. But then she walks out of the classroom and is immediately reminded of what she had told Penelope earlier. Clearly Penelope had remembered because she is leaning up against the wall right outside the classroom, picking at her nails.

“How long have you been waiting here?” Josie asks incredulously. A part of her hoped that Penelope wouldn’t show up so she wouldn’t have to do this.

Penelope looks up at the sound of Josie’s voice, looking slightly off guard. “Since the school day ended,” Penelope says like there should be no doubt about the fact that she would wait any amount of time for Josie.

Josie hates the way her heart skips at that. She shouldn’t care what Penelope does or says, not after she broke her heart. She should know better. But Josie can’t help it, every time Penelope even looks at her, she feels like she’s 14 all over again.

“Okay, well, what do you want to talk about?” Josie asks coldly, avoiding eye contact so she doesn’t give away how much Penelope affects her.

“Listen, I know you probably hate me,” Penelope starts.

“Yep,” Josie interjects sharply.

Penelope freezes for a second, giving a weak chuckle before continuing, “And you have every right to hate me. I just want you to know that I’m sorry and that I never meant to hurt you.”

“Then why did you ghost me?” Josie asks sharply, her voice coming out a little unsteady.

Penelope hesitates at that. “Did Hope tell you why I’m in Mystic Falls?”

“Yeah, your dad is a big crime guy and you’re here on crime business,” Josie says sarcastically.

“Yeah, that’s about right,” Penelope says with a soft laugh. “The thing about my dad is that he has a nasty habit of ending business ventures and resolving disputes by… offing people. Which means there are a lot of times when we have to leave somewhere very quickly and untraceably.”

Penelope pauses there to catch Josie’s eye. “I lost your number, Josie. When I got back after our goodbye, my dad told me that we had to go, and he just took my phone and smashed it, and I didn’t have any way to get your number back. I’m sorry.”

Josie’s gaze softens as she looks at the earnest expression in Penelope’s face. She almost caves right then and there to all of her past fantasies of having a second chance with the charming girl she met on vacation in Paris, but it’s the persistent ache in her chest that stops her.

“I forgive you, Penelope,” Josie says, her voice sounding weak and drained at this point. “But I just don’t think it will ever not hurt. I mean, you were my first kiss, and you broke my heart.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Penelope says with a solemn nod of understanding.

“I should probably go home,” Josie says, starting to step away from Penelope. “But it was good to see you again.”

Penelope watches Josie walk away for a moment before calling after her, “Josie, wait!”

Josie turns back around as Penelope jogs over to her.

“I know it’s a little late, but I think I might’ve misplaced your number. Do you think I could get just one more time?” Penelope asks, a slight smirk on her face.

Josie lets out a tired laugh and shakes her head at Penelope’s antics. “You’re terrible. Give me your phone,” Josie says, trying to sound exasperated, but the smile on her face gives her away.

Penelope hands Josie her phone, looking quite proud of herself, and Josie quickly types in her number. Penelope smiles at her and says goodbye. Josie gives a small wave and finally, mercifully, starts to head home.

Josie lets out the longest sigh of her life when she finally shuts her front door behind her. It’s not even five yet and she just wants to go to sleep. She makes her way to her bedroom, throws her backpack haphazardly onto the floor, and flops face down on to her bed.

“You good?” Lizzie asks apathetically, briefly glancing up from her phone from where she sits on her own bed.

Josie only grumbles incoherently into her mattress. After a long while, Josie finally gets sick of having her face mashed into her bedsheets and flips over with a sigh. She stares up at her ceiling, scanning absently over familiar flaws in the paint and the plaster.

“Lizzie, can I talk to you about something?” Josie asks after a moment.

“Of course.”

“You have to promise not to go off on a rant or a tangent.”

“I don’t---, whatever, sure.”

Josie takes a deep breath, four seconds in, four seconds out.

“I think I might have a type.”

“Of course, you have a type. Everybody has a type,” Lizzie says dismissively.

“No, I mean I have a very specific, statistically improbable type,” Josie says, throwing her arm over her face so her sister can’t see the embarrassed blush on her face.

“No offense, but I don’t think ‘bad girls/boys’ counts as specific.”

Josie’s face only heats up more at that. She hadn’t thought she was that obvious. “No, that’s not what I mean.”

“Well, then what do you mean,” Lizzie says impatiently.

“I mean, you know Penelope, the girl who was my first kiss?” Josie asks.

“The one who broke your heart and randomly showed up in town, yeah, I’m familiar,” Lizzie says, hostility toward Penelope clear in her tone.

“Well, I just learned that Penelope happens to also be the daughter of an infamous mob boss,” Josie says, wincing in anticipation of Lizzie’s reaction.

Josie’s not sure how she expected Lizzie to respond, but she does know that she startles at the sharp laugh that escapes her sister.

“Oh my god, Josie! You’re kidding!” Lizzie exclaims, her words devolving into uncontrollable laughter

Josie shakes her head from under her arm, wishing she could crawl into a hole. Eventually, Lizzie’s laughter peters out, but what comes next is equally as bad.

“So, you finally admit it, though, you slept with Hope Mikaelson,” Lizzie says, the words still an accusation, but considerably less harsh after multiple arguments on the subject.

Josie jolts upright. “What? No! I didn’t sleep with Hope! When are you going to let that go?” Josie exclaims, the redness in her face not helping her case.

Lizzie rolls her eyes like she doesn’t believe her. “Okay, whatever, but you at least admit that you do have a crush on her.”

Josie sighs and flops back down on her bed. “Of course, I have a crush on her. I’ve had a crush on Hope since the sixth grade,” Josie says weakly, finally giving up on fighting the fact.

“Did that start before or after she started getting into fistfights with faculty?” Lizzie asks smugly. Josie groans in response and Lizzie laughs. “You sure know how to pick ‘em, sis.”

“You’re one to talk,” Josie grumbles, dragging her pillow over her face to hide under.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are two guards posted outside the door. Hope knew that they were going to be there, but they aren’t her men, so she instantly feels more tense. The two guards recognize Hope immediately as she approaches, stepping slightly away from the door to let her through. Hope keeps her eyes focused and forward, not sparing the guards a glance as she opens the door and walks inside.
> 
> Hope walks into the familiar warehouse, an echoing, cavernous shell of a building filled only by two figures. Her steps are painfully audible in the silence of the night. Hope frowns as she gets closer to the two people, seeing that they consist of another guard and a young man with overly gelled hair and a distinct resemblance to Penelope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Folks!  
> Wow, there is a lot of drama in this one, huh? Like mostly just drama. Oops, all drama.   
> It's also a little shorter for pacing reasons.  
> Thanks again for all the comments on the last one, you guys are amazing!  
> Enjoy!

The next two days are weird for Hope. Every time she looks over her shoulder, Penelope is there, standing just a little too close, and, god, that girl does not know how to shut up. It’s exhausting. Plus, having Penelope around has made things with Josie kind of awkward. Whenever Hope and Josie talk, Josie seems more guarded, like there is something she wants to say but she hasn’t figured out if it’s a good idea yet. Hope decides not to ask Josie about it, assuming things will go back to normal once the job is done and Penelope leaves. Although sometimes Hope isn’t sure she’ll make it that far considering that whenever Josie says hi to or smiles at Penelope in the halls Hope feels like she wants to crawl out of her own skin and that urge to push Penelope out a window comes roaring back.

But none of that matters, anyways. They will do the cargo transfer, everything will go smoothly, and then Penelope will leave. Everything will be fine once she’s gone and if it’s not fine then at least Hope will be able to figure it out without Penelope breathing down her neck.

It’s about an hour before the transfer when Rafael’s truck pulls up in front of Hope. She climbs in without a word, her shoulders tense and her eyes trained forward. Rafael doesn’t say anything either, just pulls away from the curb, continuing on his way to go pick up Landon. They arrive at Landon’s house in about ten minutes and he’s waiting at the end of the driveway for them.

“Geez, it’s tense in here,” Landon says with an uncomfortable laugh as he climbs into the back seat.

“Sorry, Lan, I’m just anxious to get this over with,” Hope says tightly, though she does sound genuinely apologetic for making him uncomfortable.

“I know.”

“Thanks again for helping me out. You guys are the only people I’d trust to watch my back tonight,” Hope says, her eyes locked on the parts of town passing by her window, searching for any signs of danger.

“I mean, you are paying us,” Rafael says dryly.

Hope chuckles but there is no humor to it.

“Not that we wouldn’t help if you weren’t,” Landon adds quickly.

“I know,” Hope says, though she’s not sure she really believes it. “But Mikaelsons pay their debts. Do you guys remember what you’re doing tonight?”

“We stand on the corner you stick us on and make sure that the only things that come in and out are the trucks, so you don’t get ambushed,” Rafael summarizes.

Hope nods. “If anything doesn’t look right, text me. And try to stay out of sight. I don’t want to put you guys in anymore danger than I have to.”

The rest of the ride to the location is silent. They stop a few blocks away and walk the rest of the way. The air is cold and there is just enough wind to make their faces sting. Hope sets up Landon and Rafael at their lookout spot, reminding them quickly of how many trucks are coming in and what they should look like. Their goodbye is another reminder to be safe and then Hope is turning the corner and heading toward the warehouse.

There are two guards posted outside the door. Hope knew that they were going to be there, but they aren’t her men, so she instantly feels more tense. The two guards recognize Hope immediately as she approaches, stepping slightly away from the door to let her through. Hope keeps her eyes focused and forward, not sparing the guards a glance as she opens the door and walks inside.

Hope walks into the familiar warehouse, an echoing, cavernous shell of a building filled only by two figures. Her steps are painfully audible in the silence of the night. Hope frowns as she gets closer to the two people, seeing that they consist of another guard and a young man with overly gelled hair and a distinct resemblance to Penelope.

The young man looks up from his phone at the sound of Hope’s approach. The man looks relaxed in a way that makes Hope uneasy, but his eyes are sharp and watchful in the same way Penelope’s are.

“Hope, right?” The young man says, stepping forward and extending his hand. “I’m Preston.”

Hope nods and shakes his hand briefly. “Where is Penelope?”

“She’s outside calling the drivers to confirm the route,” Preston says casually, going back to staring at his phone.

Hope scowls, scrutinizing the man in front of her. “You just let her do all the work?” She says, skeptically.

Preston shrugs. “She wants to do it,” He says plainly.

They stand there in awkward silence for a little less than a minute before the back door opens and Penelope walks back inside.

“Hope, I see you met my brother,” Penelope says, a tension in her voice that oddly makes Hope feel slightly more comfortable. At least she’s not the only one taking this seriously.

“Yeah, we’re really hitting it off,” Preston says dryly, still staring at his phone.

Penelope rolls her eyes and turns to face Hope. “Ignore him. I just got off the phone with the drivers, they should be here in about 15 minutes.”

“That’s later than planned,” Hope says, her stomach twisting a little.

“I know. There was rain,” Penelope says, sounding vaguely frustrated at the whims of the weather.

Hope grimaces and swears under her breath. “You should’ve told me,” She snaps, quickly going over the details in her head.

“I only found out a minute ago. It was just in the last 20 miles or so. Is it going to be a problem?” Penelope asks, and she sounds genuine, like she really values Hope’s opinion.

“It should be fine,” Hope says after a moment of thought. She repeats the words a few more times inside her own head to try and release some of the tightness in her chest.

“Good.”

There is an awkward pause where both girls just look around at the warehouse anxiously.

“I’m going to take a look around to make sure everything’s set,” Hope says quickly, feeling the restless energy building in her legs.

“I’ll come with you.”

Hope bristles at that. What right did Penelope have to not trust her in her own town? Hope knows how to do this, and she doesn’t need some arrogant blowhard tagging along because she thinks she knows fucking everything. Hope clenches her jaw and forces herself not to say anything. She just needs to get through this.

Hope turns and heads toward the back door without a word, Penelope a step behind her. There is one guard standing by the door when they find their way outside. Hope hesitates, her eyes linger on the outline of a holster on his ribs.

“Go inside. If we have too many people outside at a time it will draw attention,” Hope orders the guard without a second thought. It’s not particularly true, considering they are on the back side of the building, facing the empty lots that connect to the other neglected warehouses and factories, but she doesn’t like being watched.

The guard doesn’t hesitate, turning to head inside as quickly as humanly possible.

Penelope laughs quietly under her breath. “A grown man afraid of a sixteen-year-old girl. I guess that’s just the business we’re in, huh?”

Hope doesn’t say anything to that, only looking around as she starts to move along the perimeter of the building. Penelope follows.

Hope gets a good solid minute of quiet before Penelope ruins it.

“So, not to sound dumb, but what exactly are we looking for?”

Hope rolls her eyes. “Why did you come out here if you don’t know what to look for?”

“You’re better company than my brother,” Penelope says dryly. “Plus, two sets of eyes are better than one.”

“Not if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Tell me then, so I can be useful.”

Hope lets out an aggressive sigh. “It’s hard to explain. It’s not as simple as looking for a big red sign that says something’s wrong. It’s a lot of little things and I can just… feel if something is off,” She explains, regretting it as soon as it’s out of her mouth. It sounds stupid and made up and how can anyone take her seriously when she says shit like this?

To Hope’s surprise, Penelope nods at the explanation. “Makes sense. I guess that’s the benefit to staying in one place for so long.”

Hope nods in acknowledgement and they continue around the building in silence. They’ve made their way to the front of the building by the time the trucks arrive. The two girls quickly head over to where Preston is as the trucks pull into the warehouse. As soon as each truck has stopped, the driver jumps out and opens the back to start unloading. Each truck is filled to the brim with varied cargo, but only a few items are pulled out and brought to where Hope and the Parks are.

Hope counts the packages to make sure everything is there while Penelope opens one up to make sure it is what it’s supposed to be.

“Okay, everything looks good. Load it up,” Penelope says with a quick glance at Hope to make sure she’s satisfied too.

The drivers don’t move, hesitating. They turn to look at Hope for confirmation. Hope nods and they finally start to move the packages.

Penelope scoffs under her breath. “They listen to _you_ ,” She says bitterly, and Hope thinks she can hear something like insecurity in Penelope’s voice.

Hope shakes her head slightly as she watches the packages disappear inside the new trucks, the old ones already starting to drive away. “They’re not listening to me. They’re listening to the Mikaelson family name,” She says simply, knowing that very few people give any thought to who she is outside her family.

Penelope doesn’t respond. In fact, she doesn’t say anything more until the last truck starts to drive away. “Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you, Mikaelson,” Penelope says, turning to Hope and extending a hand.

Hope chuckles dryly, once again ignoring the invitation to shake Penelope’s hand. “Just get out of here before you get caught, Park,” She says with a slight smirk before turning and walking away.

Hope jogs lightly away from the warehouse, back down the short, dead end road it’s on. When she rounds the corner, she finds Rafael and Landon lurking in some shadows. Landon stubs out the cigarette he had been smoking and the three of them head to the car without a word. Only once they have driven a good five blocks away from the warehouse does Hope finally start to relax a little.

“Everything go smooth?” Rafael asks after a moment.

“Yeah, but I’ll only be happy once the Parks are out of my town,” Hope says tightly, her thoughts still running on anxiety and adrenaline.

No one says anything more as Rafael drops Hope off at the usual spot. They say their goodbyes, but they are brief. Hope can feel her exhaustion weighing on her as she watches her friends drive away. Still, she takes extra care in finding her way into her apartment, making sure there is no one watching her.

When Hope finally makes her way into her apartment, she lets out a long sigh. She checks her phone to find a text from Alaric checking in with her. She can’t even find the energy to be mad, so she sends a short text back, letting him know that everything went okay. She gets an immediate text back which leaves her wondering why he is up so late, but the thought only lasts a moment.

Hope slowly undresses, hissing at the soreness of still healing wounds. She settles into her bed once she’s done and sends one last text to let her uncle know that the job was done, before falling into a fitful, restless sleep.

Penelope returns to the apartment that currently stands as her temporary home feeling restless and agitated. It’s fairly big with a modern design and decorations. The color scheme is red wine and an off color white and everything looks more expensive than it is. Penelope hates it. She hates it about as much as she hated every other place she’s stayed since her dad decided it wasn’t worth it to have her hanging around him.

Preston walks in with Penelope but doesn’t take his shoes or his coat off. He just walks off into the direction of his room. It only takes about a minute for him to reemerge and tell her that he’s going out again. Penelope scoffs and ignores him, and he leaves without another word. She doesn’t bother to wonder where he is going; she probably wouldn’t want to know.

Penelope considers eating something but gives up on the idea after one glance inside the fridge leaves her feeling nothing. She huffs to herself and sprawls out on the sofa, feeling irritation build inside of her chest. The job was done. She is supposed to feel good, feel accomplished or satisfied, but instead she just feels frustrated and empty.

After a moment, Penelope pulls out her phone and does something that she has been doing for the past two days straight whenever she is left alone with her thoughts. She stares at Josie’s contact in her phone. She needs to text her. Josie is expecting Penelope to text her and she’s not going to leave her hanging, not ever again. But what could she possibly say?

Several lines, most of them cheesy, have been knocking around her head, but none of them seem like enough. None of them can make up for breaking Josie’s heart. But then again nothing could, so she should at least make sure it’s funny.

Penelope types out the same line several times, inevitably deleting it each time, trying to decide if it’s the one she wants to go with. It’s awful, but she thinks it will make Josie laugh. She types it one more time and decides it’s the best she has to offer, quickly sending it before she can overthink it.

_Soooo… How was your flight?_

Penelope sighs to herself as she reads the message again and goes to put her phone on the coffee table, so she doesn’t have to keep looking at it, but she stops halfway through her movement when she sees three dots appear on Josie’s side of the conversation. Penelope has no idea how or why Josie is up at one in the morning, but she doesn’t think too hard on it, just waits patiently to receive her response.

 _You’re awful XD,_ appears on Penelope’s screen, quickly followed by, _and I think you used that joke already._

Penelope chuckles to herself before responding.

_Oh, come on, I really do want to know_

Penelope can imagine Josie rolling her eyes and shaking her head at her in spite of the small smile on her face.

_That was like two years ago._

_I still want to know. I mean, I have some catching up to do and it’s as good a place to start as any._

Josie’s next message takes a long time to come through, so long that Penelope starts to wonder if Josie had actually just gone to bed. When Penelope finally gets it though, it makes her heart ache.

_It was fine. I got a little air sick, but mostly I was just missing you._

Penelope stares at the words for a long moment, reading them over and over again, imagining Josie saying them to her in person. The message made her feel guilty and sick and warm all over.

_Yeah? What did you miss most about me? My charm or my wit?_

_Oh, please. We were 14, Penelope. You had neither charm nor wit._

_Excuse me? I was a very charming 14-year-old._

_No 14-year-old in the history of humanity has ever qualified as charming._

_Debatable. But what I’m hearing is that I need to take you out on a date to remind you of just how charming I am ; )_

Penelope freezes after she sends the text. Is that too much? It is definitely too much. Penelope holds her breath and waits for an answer. It takes two solid minutes and what she gets is:

_I’ve got to get some sleep._

“Fuck,” Penelope swears under her breath before typing out a quick good night. Josie does not send one back.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! I crave validation. 
> 
> Feel free to say hi to me on Tumblr: @Werederg  
> And if you want to see me fuck around and play video games. I also have a [twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/werederg)


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